Pictured above: Neelam Vaid, of Pertemps People Development Group, joins (from left) Tiegan Glover, son Shivon, Ross Cash and Katie McKnight at St Martin's School in Tipton, Sandwell

School cyclists in Sandwell are celebrating after a fundraising drive clicked into gear.

Pupils at St Martin's Primary School, in Tipton, were thrilled when employment experts Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) pumped £500 into their bid to raise £2,000 to buy a bike shelter.

The £500 contribution was awarded by staff at Edgbaston-based employment experts PPDG, which has offices throughout Birmingham and the West Midlands, after staff member Neelam Vaid nominated the school which her son Shivon attends.

Head teacher Sarah Bott said the bike shelter was requested by pupils who want to cycle to school but have nowhere secure to store them.

Sarah said: "We have an online learning platform where children can write about their learning and add suggestions for school. One of our year six pupils, Katie McKnight, recently suggested that older pupils could have a place to store their bikes so they could come to school on them.

"We thought it was a great idea and we were delighted when Shivom's mum offered her support through Pertemps People Development Group and came up with a fantastic £500 donation."

She added: "We still need to raise a lot more money and year six pupils are helping to organize some fundraising events including helping on stalls at our Bazaar morning on December 3rd. It may be a long process to get all the funds but I am sure the pupils will appreciate the shelter once it arrives. It's great that companies like Pertemps People Development Group get involved with helping schools to be able to meet the children's suggestions to make our school better.

"The addition of a bike shelter on site will mean that our trained year six cyclists will have the option to travel safely and healthily to school."

The school received the donation from PPDG's Give As You Earn (GAYE) scheme as part of its active community support programme. PPDG workers contribute each month to a payroll giving scheme and have donated more than £120,000 to good causes and charities, many supporting the disabled and disadvantaged. PPDG has been recognised by the Institute of Fundraising as operating one of the best payroll giving schemes in the UK.

PPDG delivers the Government's Welfare to Work strategy across the Midlands through Flexible New Deal, Work Focused Training and other employment initiatives. PPDG is using its vast experience of helping long-term unemployed people get back into work to help local jobseekers secure employment opportunities.

PPDG's team of employment experts provide advice on benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus, PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training initiatives including Flexible New Deal, Working Neighbourhoods Fund, Learndirect and many ESF funded programmes. More than 100,000 job seekers have been helped into sustained employment by the company since the projects began.  It has trained 130,000 people in vocational skills, and over 175,000 people have benefitted from professional information, advice and guidance services.