Jack Gayton, James Dance and Dr Daryl Brown present the cheque to Jeremy Hobbs and Hero bear
Jack Gayton, James Dance and Dr Daryl Brown present the cheque to Jeremy Hobbs and Hero bear

Pupils at a Lichfield school have helped raise more than £1,000 for charity.

Maple Hayes Dyslexia School students managed to collect the sum in aid of Help for Heroes in just one month.

Jeremy Hobbs, Help for Heroes county co-ordinator for Staffordshire, received a cheque from the school and spoke to pupils about the work of the charity, explaining that all the money they raised went directly to good works to benefit soldiers. He also explained some of the facilities that the charity has provided over the past couple of years.

The visit followed an event last year which saw a soldier on leave from Afghanistan telling pupils about life on the front line.

Head teacher Dr Daryl Brown said:

“Maple Hayes pupils have a history of excellent response to charity fundraising. Having a solider talking to them to explain some of the facts about serving in war meant a lot to them. Listening to him put the work of the soldiers and the charity into context and made fundraising more relevant.

“Money was raised by the sale of cakes and chocolates in school, created or donated by pupils or their families. This happened during December and added to the feeling of festive fun. We wouldn’t normally encourage that amount of confectionery in school, but it coincided with an indulgent time of year and served to focus attention of the plight of injured soldiers and helped everyone to concentrate on giving. Raising over £1000 is quite remarkable considering we only have around 100 pupils in the school.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.