Pierrepont Gamston Primary School held their Harvest Festival Worship on Monday 4th October. However, rather than collecting produce, they decided to raise money for a local charity.
The children in school met with representatives from the Rosie May Foundation and were each given a tube of Smarties to take home and eat. Once emptied, the tubes needed to be filled with coins and returned to school.
Children also researched the work of the charity and then presented their findings as part of the school’s Harvest Worship. Younger children found out lots about Sri Lanka and Nepal, two of the countries that are supported by the Foundation, whilst older children discovered how single mothers are trained to be tuk tuk taxi drivers, giving them a sustainable income.
Haleema, a year 6 pupil, said, “I think that it is a great idea to support the Rosie May Foundation because of the fact that children of my age, who live in Nepal and Sri Lanka, will benefit from the money raised”.
A classmate, Niamh, stated, “I like the fact that the school is supporting a local charity as during the pandemic a lot of them have struggled. Helping children attend school in poorer countries is such a great cause”.
Mary Storrie, founder and CEO of the Rosie May Foundation said, “We are delighted that Pierrepont Gamston Primary School are able to help feed our families, who are still in lockdown in Sri Lanka. The tradition of giving at Harvest Festival is timely as Sri Lanka is currently facing food shortages and children are going hungry. This kind gesture will help our local children understand how other children, just like them, have been affected by the global pandemic”.
With a few days left until the deadline for returning tubes of money, an exact total raised is not yet known. However, the early signs look very promising. Mr Sharp, The Headteacher, said, “I am so proud of the way children, school staff and parents have worked together to raise awareness of those so much less fortunate than ourselves. The generosity of the local community has been amazing, with over 100 tubes returned within the first week”.
Phil Drabble, one of the charity’s representatives, has agreed to come back to the school to collect all of the coin-filled Smarties tubes. As a special treat, three lucky fundraisers from the school will be randomly selected to have a ride in Rosie, one of the charity’s pink tuk tuks. With the weather becoming more chilly, some warm coats may be required!