Charity boost after pupils’ January dip

Maria Jones (left) with her son William and daughter Olivia and pupils from Whitehead Primary School present a cheque for £900 to Catherine O`Hara,Community Fund Raiser with the NI Childrens Hospice,the money was raised by this group of children and their parents doing a sponsored swim at Whitehead on New Years Day. INCT 04-033-PSB

The group joined their parents for the traditional New Year’s Day swim at the seafront, raising £900 for the charity.

Around 14 pupils from primary five, six and seven took part in the event, a traditional new year’s fixture in the town which sees residents take to the waters beside the County Antrim Yacht Club.

Praising the efforts of the pupils was Whitehead Primary School Jim Loughins. “This is something the children decided to do off their own bat and was technically outside of the school, but we definitely try to have a fundraising ethos here,” he said.

“Every year, different organisations will come along and do a presentation to the children and the school council decides which charity they’d like to support. This year they decided on the Northern Ireland Hospice.

“Over the past three years we have raised about £6000 for Kids 4 School, which supports schoolchildren in Tanzania; three of us actually went out there last October. I think projects like that have captured the children’s imaginations and inspired them to want to help others. “

The school also recently supported the Rotary Club of Carrickfergus ShelterBox appeal, and just before Christmas handed over a cheque for £1,248 which will purchase and transport two fully equipped boxes to aid the Philippines relief effort.

“It’s a good thing if we can raise a generation of children who are outward thinking and are concerned about those who are less fortunate than them,” added Mr Loughins. “They were certainly very brave to go jumping into the sea on New Year’s Day!”

A cheque for the funds raised was presented at the school on Monday morning to Catherine O’Hara, community fundraising officer for the charity.

“The fantastic amount raised by everyone involved will make a huge difference to children and families being cared for by Children’s Hospice in the area,” Catherine said. “£100 could pay for one hour of specialist nursing care and therapies, so this contribution will enable us to provide additional much-needed care to local children who have a life-limiting condition. I would like to thank Maria Jones, her family and friends for making such a success of their unique annual event. As a Newtownabbey-based service in need of the support of the local community, we are delighted to receive this donation.”