Schools encouraged to dash around the playground for charity
Children at Aqueduct Primary School are showing their caring side and stepping out in support of a charity’s Christmas fundraising campaign.
The school is one of the first to register to take part in Severn Hospice’s Rudolph Relay – a sponsored walk, skip, bounce, hop or jog – which aims to promote the importance of community and charity, while adding a twist to school festive sports activities.
Severn Hospice has to raise £2 for every £3 it spends and pupils taking part are being asked to raise a minimum of £2 in sponsorship from friends and family to support the charity’s work caring for people across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales living with incurable illness.
The relay is due to take place between Monday 27 November and Friday 1 December, with schools able to decide how they want their pupils to take part in the challenge.
Nicky Green, Senior Community Fundraiser at the hospice said: “We’re so excited to launch the Rudolph Relay this year and have been thrilled by the positive response to our appeal for support. As well as Adcote School for Girls and Kinnerley Church of England Primary School have said they’ll help – we're so grateful for their support.
“We understand how busy teachers are and the incredible work involved with running a school, and so we’ve created a wealth of materials to support schools and have enjoyed working closely with those signed-up to help them promote their relay to their parents.
“There’s still time for more schools to come on board, they have got complete freedom to tailor their relay to suit their timetable, curriculum and abilities.
“Local charities like ours can only serve our community with the support of local people so being able to share how important that is with the pupils really matters to us. We are doing that in an age-appropriate way, of course,” she added.
Mrs Tammy Lockley, Headteacher at Aqueduct Primary School said: “Severn Hospice means so much to our school community; many of our staff, pupils and their families have experienced the hospice’s care and support first-hand, and so we’re delighted to support them this Christmas by taking part in the Rudolph Relay.”
“Not only do we care for and support our patients, but we also offer individual help through a variety of services to families and friends. Our dedicated ‘Elephants Never Forget’ service helps children and families who have a relative with an incurable illness or who have experienced the death of a relative,” Nicky added.
For every child taking part in the relay, they will receive a pair of reindeer antlers to wear on the day, a certificate, and a sticker to celebrate their participation.
Each school will also receive a special participant pack to support their communications to parents and a certificate to celebrate their fundraising total.
There’s still time for primary schools to join the festive fun and sign-up. To find out more about the Rudolph Relay, go to severnhospice.org.uk/rudolph-relay or call 01952 221 351.
