Newcastle primary pupils help neighbours smile with Harvest Festival gifts

Pupils at a Newcastle primary helped the local community to smile by delivering dozens of food gifts from the school's annual Harvest Festival collection.
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Year 6 house team captains at St Bede’s Catholic Primary, in Denton Burn, took parcels of dried and tinned food which had been donated by families at the school to elderly neighbours in the local area.

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The rest of the donations were sent to the local food bank in Benwell to help those in need of assistance.
Overall, around 40 parcels were sent out in the local community while four large boxes went to the food bank.

One of the elderly parishioners who received a parcel showed her appreciation by sending in a card of thanks for the Harvest festival gift.

She wrote: “It is really generous of all your children and their parents donating these gifts for the elderly of our Parish, especially in these present times when lots of families are struggling in various ways.  
“May God bless you all and keep you all safe and well.”

The children who delivered the parcels said it had made them happy to have helped someone in this way.
One said: “It could be the highlight of someone's day - we are giving them a gift and it is not just a gift of food it is the gift of love - and it made them smile!”

Another pupil commented: “It is our little way of reminding people that we love them and it made me feel happy because we had helped someone else out.”

The school holds its Harvest Festival every year and collects dried and tinned food such as soup, beans, tuna, sardines, tinned veg, biscuits, crackers, pasta, rice, tea, coffee and sugar.

Mrs Leigh-anne Young, headteacher of St Bede’s, which is part of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, said: “In October we conducted our annual whole school ‘Harvest Festival’ collection. As always, our families were very generous and we were inundated with donations of dried and tinned food. Some of the Year 6 house team captains went out to deliver some of the parcels.

“It is a really lovely experience as the people receiving the parcels are often living alone and really enjoy seeing the children and equally the children really enjoy chatting to them and giving them a small gift.”

She added: “From my perspective, the Harvest festival is one of the ways that we as a school try to put our 'Love into Action'.  

“As a school family we feel it is not only important to support each other but also to reach out to our community.  

“Harvest is a lovely opportunity to make links with our Parish community and help our elderly neighbours know that we care. 
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“Our families are always so generous and always overwhelm me with how much they give to help others.”