Coleford school gets its wellies on to help give hunger the boot

20 December 2013

This autumn, pupils from Heart of the Forest Community Special School in Coleford, Gloucestershire have raised a fantastic sum of £520 to help ‘Give Hunger the Boot’, a fundraising appeal for the UK charity Farm Africa which is working to beat hunger across eastern Africa.

To help ‘Give Hunger the Boot’, the entire school of around 90 pupils, aged between 4 and 19, took part in a jam-packed week of welly boot inspired fun. No matter what their disability, every pupil got involved in the range of activities on offer including welly decorating, welly wanging, welly-shaped biscuit baking and a raffle. There was also a special assembly to raise the important issue of hunger in Africa and explain what Farm Africa is doing to tackle this.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the entire school, regardless of their level of mobility, also took part in a ‘Welly Walk’, collectively clocking up 88 miles. This was an extraordinary success as many of the students rely on wheelchairs or walking frames to get around. Yet they fully embraced the challenge and some even stuck welly boot shaped cut-outs onto the wheels of their wheelchairs!

The sponsored walk is part of Farm Africa’s ‘Great African Welly Walk’ where the number of ‘welly miles’ walked by Heart of the Forest will be added to the grand total of miles walked by all participating schools and churches across the UK. Last year, the total number of miles walked was equivalent to a mass ‘Welly Walk’ all the way to a Farm Africa project in Ethiopia and back. This year Farm Africa is hoping to go even further by walking all the way to one of their projects in Kenya. And back!

Responding to the extraordinary fundraising efforts of his students, Michael Hobbs, a teacher at the school who has also worked in Africa, said:

“Taking part in ‘Give Hunger the Boot’ was fantastic as it allowed every pupil in the school to be involved in every single activity that we did, no matter what their disability. They understood where the money raised was going and really got behind the idea. Although a small school, we raised a whopping £520, showing the commitment of both our students and their amazing parents.”  

The extraordinary support from Heart of the Forest Community Special School will generate important funds that Farm Africa will use to train farmers in how to grow and produce more food and increase their harvest yields.

Ends

Images are available on request.

Farm Africa press office:

Matthew Whitticase, 020 7067 1237 / mattheww@farmafrica.org

Laura Oakley, 020 7067 1252 / laurao@farmafrica.org  

Notes to Editor:

About Farm Africa

Farm Africa believes that Africa’s farmers can feed Africa’s people. It provides solutions before hunger becomes an emergency, investing in farmers to give them the tools and skills they need to feed their families. It also trains farmers’ groups in how to market and sell what they farm so their families see change not just for this harvest but for years to come. 

To help more farmers beat hunger for good please visit www.farmafrica.org

About ‘Give Hunger the Boot’

‘Give Hunger the Boot’ is a campaign run annually around harvest time by Farm Africa. It encourages schools and faith groups to fundraise so that families in Africa can grow enough crops to eat, not just this harvest, but every harvest. It promotes welly boot themed activities including participation in our Great African Welly Walk. http://www.farmafrica.org/give-hunger-the-boot/give-hunger-the-boot.