SCHOOLchildren across Weymouth and Portland have been clubbing together to raise cash for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.
From cake sales to school discos, pupils from All Saints School and Budmouth Technology College in Weymouth and Underhill Junior School and Royal Manor Arts College on Portland are among those fundraising for the cause.
All Saints School donated £500 from its contingency fund while pupils came together to hold a cake sale where an additional £186 was raised.
The staff will also be holding a soup lunch later on in the week when members of staff will make different soups to be sold during the lunch hour.
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Deputy headteacher Betty Port said: “We sent the £500 off so we knew for sure some money was going to Haiti, but what is more important is the money raised by the children from the cake sale.
“When we tell them how much we raised they will know they personally have done something to help people in greater need than themselves.”
Budmouth Technology College is also planning on holding a cake sale and a school disco which Year 7 and 8 children are organising.
Headteacher David Akers said there is also a collection bucket and £500 raised from a previous non-school uniform day will go towards the cause.
“We’re doing lots of different things to raise money and we’re encouraging children to come up with their own ideas.
“The more they take ownership of it and the more they understand it, the better it is.”
Sisters Louise and Sophie Fryer, aged eight and six, along with their friend Fern Payne, aged nine, from Underhill Junior School emptied loose change into the Haiti collection buckets at a table top sale over the weekend organised by the Rotary Club of the Isle and Royal Manor of Portland. The table top sale was primarily organised to raise money for the Chesil Cove Children’s Choir but the rotary club members were also collecting for the victims of the earthquake.
Julia Lunn, president of the club said that other pupils from Royal Manor School emptied their pockets to put cash into their boxes.
She said: “The children should be proud of themselves as should be their parents and the school. It might not be much but every penny counts.”
Rotary clubs in Weymouth and Dorchester have also been out to raise funds for what has been described as one of the 10 worst earthquakes in history and the final estimated death toll is between 100,000 and 200,000 lives.
The Rotary Club of the Isle and Royal Manor of Portland has raised £780, Weymouth Rotary Club has raised £6,660 and the Rotary Club of Melcombe Regis has raised £2,000.
The town’s Harbourside Rotarians will be making a collection in February.
Dorchester’s two Rotary clubs, who raised nearly £7,000 with their collection in South Street at the weekend, will be out again in the county town tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
You can also donate to their campaign at www.justgiving.com/rcd.
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