School community rallies to raise over £2,700

The whole school community at St Anne’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Buxton, has rallied to raise over £2,700 to send children on an unforgettable trip.

After signing up for free tickets to visit Chester Zoo, St Anne’s received enough to be able to take the whole school, which is made up of over 220 pupils and staff.

But the cost of transporting everyone to the zoo in December was coming in at over £2,500 so the school launched a fundraising drive in a bid to pay for the travel.

Now the school has more than met its target, raising over £2,700 from a fundraising page, a 12-hour sponsored walk at school by staff and some pupils and a Summer Fair/Meet the Teacher event.

One of the biggest events was a car wash held all weekend by a family who have children at St Anne’s. They were supported by local firefighters and together they raised a total of £575.

Headteacher Julia Wiggins said: “The community has really stepped up to support our children and we would like to thank everyone who helped out and contributed, especially in the current economic climate. The Meet the Teacher event was fantastic, parents were saying it was the best one over and that they really enjoyed it.

“The sponsored walk at school involving three of our staff was great and we were trying to keep them going. The money has just been trickling in and we are thrilled that we have exceeded our target.”

The members of staff who took part in the fundraising walk at school were Assistant Headteacher Frankie Dodd, pastoral and pupil support lead Faye Minshull and Year 5 teacher Callum D’Souza, who is also the school’s PE lead.

Frankie said: “The walk started on the playground at 7.30am and finished at 7.30pm. I did 45,000 steps which was about 23 miles. Callum ran some of it and did about 60,000 steps. We were all shattered at the end of it. It’s been fantastic to see the whole community coming together, I wasn’t sure that we would be able to reach this point. I thought we might raise so much and have to ask parents to pay for the rest but everyone rallied around.”