Pennar pupils raise £400 for Wales Air Ambulance charity

The Pennar Community School pupils were inspired to fundraise for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity after a visit from Laura Slate, the charity's communications and engagement manager and sister of their teacher, Victoria Boyle.

Ms Boyle said: "The Wales Air Ambulance is something the pupils could all relate to. We have all seen it fly over from time to time and heard about incidents attended in the area.

There were a number of stalls and activities (Image: Wales Air Ambulance)

"Some of our pupils’ families have also had a need for it and have seen first-hand the benefits."

The pupils were surprised to learn the charity not only operates helicopters but also has road response vehicles. She added: "They were shocked to hear that there are road vehicles as well."

Given the service is funded entirely through donations, the pupils were keen to contribute. Ms Boyle said: "Once pupils found out the air ambulance relies entirely on donation, they really wanted to have a big community focus and hold a fundraiser event.

"I think all of them thought that this service could be needed by any of us, at any time."

The fundraiser was a coffee and cake event, a charity initiative launched by Wales Air Ambulance to mark their 23rd anniversary, organised by the pupils for Wednesday, March 20. The event included various stalls and activities like name the dragon and a penalty shootout.

Ms Boyle said: "To take part in any of the activities like name the dragon and the penalty shoot-out, we asked for a small donation per family.

"We asked for children to come to school dressed in red, white and green – the colours of the Welsh flag.

"It started about 9.30am in the morning and finished just before midday."

Children were asked to wear red, green and white (Image: Wales Air Ambulance)

Lauding the children’s efforts, Ms Slate said: “From start to finish the pupils were engaged, asking great questions and showed a real interest in what they were learning about."

Impressed by the successful event, Wales Air Ambulance’s head of fundraising, Mark Stevens said: “We are so grateful to all the pupils at Pennar Community School for organising such a fantastic community event in aid of our lifesaving service.

"Our charity depends on events like this, it makes all the difference, and it means we can attend patients in life or limb-saving situations.”

The fundraiser concluded with an overwhelming sense of achievement. Ms Boyle said: "It was a real honour for them to see the amount of money they raised after all the time and effort that went into it.

"They know that their little team and their fundraiser and events like this are what is needed to help keep the air ambulance going."