Welsh primary school raises over £7K for Turkey and Syria earthquake appeal

Kind-hearted pupils from a Welsh primary school have raised a remarkable £7290 for Save the Children’s Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal by organising a sponsored walk around their local area.

The fundraiser was the idea of members of the School Council at Ysgol Awel y Mynydd primary school in Llandudno Junction, who on hearing that families within their school and community had been directly affected, wanted to help.

They quickly organised for over 400 pupils to complete sponsored walks according to the age and ability of the children during the run-up to the February half-term break and received incredible support and donations from families and members of the local community.

Headteacher Mr Geraint Evans said: “I’m extremely proud of the School Council and staff for showing such initiative, determination and compassion in wanting to help the children in Turkey and Syria who have been impacted so horrifically by the earthquake.

“We have children attending our school who have families in Turkey who were directly impacted and the whole school and community wanted to show our support by raising money to support Save the Children’s work in both Turkey and Syria. We’re absolutely bowled over by the incredible donations and support we received for the event.”

A member of the School Council added: “We saw the terrible pictures and videos about the earthquake on the Newsround programme and then we heard that families in our school were affected.

“We asked our headteacher and teachers if we could do something to help and thought it would be a great idea to organise sponsored walks. We worked very hard to organise it quickly and everyone helped.

“We can’t believe how much we’ve raised and we hope that it helps children and families in Turkey and Syria. We want to thank everyone for their kindness.”

Aid

Nearly two months after the devastating earthquakes that impacted 24.4 million people, including 6.2 million children, Save the Children is continuing to respond with local partners, providing urgent lifesaving assistance in both Turkey and Syria.

In Turkey the charity is supporting children and their families in some of the worst affected provinces, such as Hatay and Gaziantep providing water, tents, blankets, mattresses, diapers, sanitary products, heaters, firewood and warm clothing.

In Syria, Save the Children is delivering aid through local partners, responding in Idlib, Aleppo and Raqqa governorates, and providing emergency food rations, blankets, tents and warm clothing.

Save the Children is also making sure children and their families can keep clean, healthy and protected from illness and diseases by providing safe drinking water, and essential hygiene and sanitation items.

The charity is also creating safe spaces for children to play and to get psychological support so they can start to process their terrible experiences.

Melanie Simmonds, head of Save the Children Cymru said: “Once again we have seen an outpouring of generosity from the Welsh public in wanting to help those affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

“A donation of £10 could provide blankets to keep two people warm; £25 could provide emergency food for a family for ten days and £50 could provide emergency shelter for two families.”