Belton school fair raises foodbank cash

Children from a primary school in Belton, near Great Yarmouth, have held a summer fair which raised over £850 for two local foodbanks. 

The Moorlands Church of England Primary Academy in Belton is part of the Diocese of Norwich Education Academies Trust, and the summer fair was the brainchild of Rabbit class.  The pupils came up with the idea after their recent “empathy day” when they read the book, It’s A No-Money Day by Kate Milner, in which a mother is forced to turn to a foodbank to feed a family. 
 
The school also received a visit from representatives of the local Trussell Trust foodbank, the Yarmouth & Magdalen Foodbank, which is a partnership between the Pathway Café and Resource Centre in Great Yarmouth (a ministry of the Great Yarmouth Parish) and St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston.
 
Joanne Thurtle, Rabbit class’ teacher, explained, "The children could not believe that people needed foodbanks and just wanted to do something to help.  So, we organised the fair in order to raise some money.” Other classes then joined in, with pupils emailing business to ask for donations of raffle prizes, their families getting involved by baking cakes to sell, and pupils running stalls. 
 
One of pupils’ emails to a local business said, "We were left feeling incredibly sad to learn that some people don't have enough money to buy food to eat and that they have to ask the lovely people at the foodbank to help them. Some of us kept thinking about all of this and we wanted to do something to help! We asked our teacher to help us to organise a little summer fair that we could hold, to try and raise some money to give to a foodbank."
 
The fair, which took place on Wednesday 20 July raised a total of £856.30.  The school expressed their thanks, via their Facebook page, “to everyone who was involved in bringing it together and for all of the parents, relations and members of the community who supported it.”
 
On Thursday 21 July, the money was handed over in to the two foodbanks - The Belton Pantry, which is run by All Saints Church in Belton and the St Mary Magdalene centre of the Yarmouth & Magdalen Foodbank in Gorleston.
 
Rev Matthew Price, vicar of St Mary Magdalene Church, who received the cheque on behalf of their foodbank said, “We are so grateful for the support of Moorlands Church of England Primary Academy.  As with many foodbanks, the Yarmouth & Magdalen Foodbank has experienced significantly increasing demand over the last few months, and we expect that rise to continue as we head towards the winter.
 
“Support like this is critical to ensuring that we are able to continue serving the most vulnerable in our communities.  It is particularly moving that this idea came from the children - we are so grateful!”
 
The top photo, showing the handing over of a cheque to St Mary Magdalene Church, is courtesy of  Matthew Price. The photo of the fair taking place is courtesy of Moorlands School.

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