On Friday 25th September pupils of Hartington C of E Primary School invited members of the community to join them for a ‘Virtual Macmillan Afternoon Tea’ in memory of Mrs Bel Kerr and to raise funds for the Macmillan charity.
Due to the current pandemic the school was unable to invite parents and the community to join them for the traditional coffee morning so they came up with a plan.
This involved writing invitations to friends of Bel and the school, explaining the contents of the “Box”, which included a cake- teabag, milk, sugar and the time they were to have their tea party. Also included in the box was an envelope for participant to make a donation to this charity which was very close to Bel’s heart.
So at 2:45 lessons ceased to the ringing of the old school bell. The children sat in the hall to eat their cakes and enjoy a cup of tea or juice whilst remembering Bel and what Macmillan means and how it impacts not only Hartington but other communities around the country.
The participants of the event were asked to take a photograph of them sharing their cake and enjoying their cup of tea whilst sitting in their homes maintaining the socially distance rule. One member of the community quoted, ‘What an inspirational way to raise money for the Macmillan Cancer Charity, and to pay tribute to Bel Kerr’. Another said ‘What a lovely idea! We really enjoyed our tea and cake and just loved the notes from the children. A big thank you to all’.
To raise funds the older children in class 1 and class 2 took part in a sponsored Spellathon, and Times Table challenge, while the younger early years children participated in an exercise challenge.
The boxes were distributed around the village by a willing team of volunteers after being packed by the school staff. The cakes were, very kindly baked by Mrs Stubbs, the catering manager at Hartington School.
The school would like to thank everyone who supported the charity event and for their donations, which are still coming in. If you would like to donate please make cheques payable to Macmillan Cancer Support and either deliver to school or the Post Office. Also you can visit Hartington Village Webb site or Facebook and go to the just giving page MacMillan Spellathon and Times Table Challenge.
We would also like to take this opportunity to apologise to any members of the community who have supported this event in previous years that we omitted to send cakes to.
Please click on link to access a report written about the event by the children of class 2