Wigan primary pupils have stockings full of goodwill

Hope School and College, a special educational needs centre in Wigan united its staff, pupils and their parents in a fund-raising mission to fill as many stockings with gifts as possible in aid of homelessness charity The Brick.

Year eight and nine pupils came together to collect warm items of clothing, such as scarves and hats, as well as toiletries. They have now filled 40 and still going past it.

Teachers Jim Fox and Kathryn Staziker, who organised the appeal, were keen that the children took on board the principles of giving back this festive season.

Mr Fox said: “This term, the topic for the children was all about charity, so we invited people from The Brick to come in and deliver a talk to them in an assembly.

“From learning about homelessness, the pupils then decided to make a real go at collecting items for a stocking appeal that would then enable The Brick to deliver these much-needed goods to the most vulnerable out there.”

Two giant Christmas stockings were brought in as part of the overall number, each of which equated to three regular size stockings. All of them were placed under a Christmas tree put up in Hope School and College, which Mr Fox didn’t anticipate being too small for the amount of donations.

He said: “Although no limit was put on the amount of stockings, we were not expecting to get into double figures, but the children just got on with it and started making collections, and their parents will be immensely proud of them, as we are.

“The whole school is overwhelmed by the response from everyone involved, and hopefully The Brick will notice the difference when they collect the stockings before Christmas.”