A FUND-raising drive to ensure a new £6.3m school for children with special needs can bid for sports college status has reached its £20,000 target.

A committee for the Parr school, currently being constructed and recently named Lansbury Bridge, has been working to raise the money need to apply for Sports College status.

Dozens of items of sporting memorabilia from teams such as Real Madrid and Saints, to individuals such as Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy have been collected.

The value of the memorabilia is estimated at £7,000, and it will be auctioned at a sportman's dinner. This fund, totalled with a £5,000 grant, and £8,000 raised thanks to the efforts of local firms, means the application for sports college status has now been submitted.

The 170-place Lansbury Bridge will be built on old playing fields, off Lansbury Avenue, Parr that were once used by the old Parr High School. It will cater for pupils aged from four to 16,

Scheduled to open in April 2005, it will include classrooms, a computer suite and a specially designed training room. The school sports facilities will include swimming and hydrotherapy pools and a sports hall.

During weekends and evenings sports facilities will be on offer to the community. St Helens Council says that if the bid is successful the new school will be one of the best-equipped sports colleges for special needs in the country.