Mill Bank school's £10,000 mission accomplished

Mission accomplished - it's thumbs up from pupils at St Mary's Junior and Infant School at Mill Bank as, with a little help from their friends, they have hit a bumper £10,000 fundraising target.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Feb 2018, 08:00 BST
Celebration: Hitting target means Year 6 pupils have the new-state-of-the-art classroomCelebration: Hitting target means Year 6 pupils have the new-state-of-the-art classroom
Celebration: Hitting target means Year 6 pupils have the new-state-of-the-art classroom

The school launched an appeal last spring to raise the money to develop a new, state-of-the-art, Year 6 classroom.

Every little helped and there were three major fundraising activities well-supported through the year.

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Early on was the biggest single fundraiser - Yorkshire Warrior - which saw those taking part venture into north Yorkshire.

Nine intrepid “warriors” fought their way through hills, bogs, river crossings, lake crossings, slides, barbed wire, electric fencing, and much more at at Ripley Castle in May.

A Summer Ball entirely organised by school parents and friends saw around 100 people enjoy great food, drinks and entertainment, also raising money through raffles and an auction where the lots, all very kindly donated, included a limited-edition print from well-known artist Paddy Hartley, cycle gear from Isadore, a week in the sunshine at a European villa, hand-made lighting from Pipe Creative and much more.

Next, they had to be eagle-eyed to take part in the Mill Bank Owl Hunt, which is an annual event held by the school around the Mill Bank village, hugely supported by the community.

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Local families made all the owls, hunted them in pretty poor weather last June and raised funds through the sale of trail sheets, community stalls and food and drink. There was also massive support from local businesses who sponsored owls and other activities on the day.

Headteacher Matthew Hopkins, said everyone was rightly proud of their efforts: “We were hugely aware that we were asking our school community to help us raise funds in what was already a challenging financial environment but the way everyone rose to that challenge was nothing short of outstanding and goes to show the high esteem in which our school, pupils and staff are held.

“Our community has made a huge difference to the lives and education of current and future pupils of St Mary’s and we couldn’t be more thankful. I hope everyone is as proud of themselves and our new classroom as our pupils and staff are.”

Related topics:Yorkshire