Jemma Brown from Wiltshire Air Ambulance visited Stonar to receive a cheque for the charity totalling £3,622 in a special assembly held on Friday 9th January.
Wiltshire Air Ambulance has been Stonar Prep’s charity for the last year and the children have enjoyed raising money for the charity at several different events over the last few months.
Pupil Lottie in Year 6, who is the school’s charity leader explains the different activities the school has taken part in. She said, “Over the past few terms we have had lots of fun raising money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
“We have had two movie nights when we came to school in the evening in our PJs and snuggled down to watch a film. We have held a sponsored marathon (where we ran the equivalent distance of nine marathons), mufti days, bonfire night (which always goes off with a bang), a disco and of course, ‘dress up like a superhero’ day with loads of fantastic outfits on show.”
Children from Reception right through to Year 6 have been involved in fundraising. The sponsored marathon, held in the summer term, was a great community endeavour in which all the children displayed amazing levels of effort and commitment, running an extraordinary 1,277 laps in total – a grand distance of 234 miles, equivalent to over nine marathons.
Jemma, who is the community services manager at Wiltshire Air Ambulance said, “I am bowled over by how much money Stonar Prep have raised for us, it is quite fantastic. Such hard work and dedication has gone into raising money for us and we really cannot say thank you enough.
“The money raised goes such a long way in helping us to keep flying over the skies of Wiltshire. We go out to two to three lifesaving missions a day, so thank you Stonar, very much indeed for supporting us.”
Mark Brain, Head of Prep. commented, “An awareness of the world and learning to contribute to the wider community is an important part of a full education. I am always delighted at the enthusiasm with which our pupils throw themselves into fundraising activities.
“It is a great reward for them to have reached such a good total and to hear more from the charity about how it will be spent.”
As a thank you, Wiltshire Air Ambulance has invited pupils to visit their Operations Centre in Devizes to find out more.