Peterborough school raises over £1000 in memory of popular former teacher

Brian was a teacher at the school in Bretton for 28 years but sadly passed away in February due to cancer.

Staff at the school decided that they wanted to raise money in memory of Brian and decided on a virtual coffee morning and a non-uniform day on Friday (September 25).

The school has hosted coffee mornings before, these have been whole school events with cakes being bought and sold by parents, teachers and pupils but, due to Covid-19 safety measures, things had to be a little different this year.

Pupils were encouraged to bring in cakes and snacks that could be shared within their own bubble, with other classes and parents able to join in virtually.

Alongside the coffee morning, the school sold raffle tickets for a virtual raffle. The top prize was an art piece by Stamford based-artist Jane Hindmarch, the piece was worth £225 but was kindly donated to support the cause.

Many children also brought in donations, as well as £1 to wear their non-uniform.

A lot of the staff wore their football shirts in homage to the fact that Brian was a big football fan and loved Newcastle United.

Heltwate School also received support from local businesses, who made donations, and Audi Peterborough, part of the Vindis Group, even brought along one of their RS7 sports cars for the children to sit in and pay 50p to have their photograph taken with.

All of this contributed to the school raising over £1000 for Macmillan.

Assistant Head Teacher Kim Phillips said: “It’s been a brilliant day and we’re really pleased to raise so much money.

“Brian was such a loved person at the school. If you think of Heltwate, you think of Brian.”