Flintshire pupils raise £400 for Ukraine appeal

Members of Ysgol Treffynnon’s school council organised an own clothes day to help raise funds for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The students held a meeting to discuss various ways they might be able to help, including an appeal for toiletries, but after contacting relevant charities and discovering that they were no longer taking donations, they wrote to the senior leadership team to ask permission for students to pay £1 to wear their own clothes for a day, and to decorate the school with sunflowers – the national flower of Ukraine and a symbol of peace in the country.

After receiving approval, Rebekah Rae, Additional Learning Needs (ALN)Teacher and Student Voice Lead, helped the students to coordinate arrangements.

Gail Sissons, art teacher, created a project for year 7 students to make sunflowers using paper plates, crepe paper and pictures of sunflowers; this also brought a timely closure to the students’ studies of Van Gogh’s Sunflower paintings.

Members of the craft club, which is run by receptionist, Sharon Edwards, knitted a selection of items to help decorate the school and made blue and yellow bunting to hang around the building.

Mrs Rae has been moved by the thoughtful actions of the students.  She said: “I am very proud of our student council for deciding to do something positive for this terrible situation.  The students have all been affected by news of the war and the horrific plight of the people.  I think it helps them to do something positive to help, if only in a relatively small way.

“These students consistently demonstrate their caring nature; they are wonderful young people.  I would like to thank all the students who took part, and the staff who supported the project.”

The school has raised almost £400 so far with more contributions still coming in.