Young footie fans raise money for charity

Football fans at a Blyth primary school have dressed in the Magpies colours to celebrate the team’s appearance at Wembley cup final this weekend - and to help charity.

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Pupils at St Wilfrid’s wore the black and white that is synonymous with the team, and also raised money to help the victims of the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria after a big-hearted pupil suggested the idea.

With a former pupil, a goalkeeper on the books of United, and a staff member with tickets for the final, there is huge support for the club. The school, a member of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, will be cheering loudly with the Toon Army.

The Premier League side will be heading south to London for the Carabao Cup Final where they will play Manchester United. It’s the first time the team has been at Wembley in 24 years, and pupils at St Wilfrid’s have no doubt who they are supporting.

As well as wearing black-and-white outfits or football strips, children and staff at the school in Blyth sported painted faces and coloured hair to help raise money for the charity appeal. The pupils also enjoyed a range of football-themed activities throughout the day, from decorating black and white biscuits and designing their own football strips, to taking part in penalty shoot-outs.

Headteacher Pauline Johnstone explained: “We have links with Newcastle United through one of our ex-pupils, Dan Langley, who trained at the Newcastle Academy, and is now on loan to another local team, and one of our teachers, who is a life-long season ticket holder and has been lucky enough to get tickets – she is absolutely delighted!

“Initially this was to be a fun day to celebrate the achievement of our team, but, following events in Turkey and Syria, Harry in Year 6 asked whether we could use this to raise some money for the Earthquake Appeal, so we set up a donations page so parents could contribute across the course of the day.”

She continued: “Events like this are very important to our school community, as they underline our links to our local community, and encourage the children to respect and value achievement, while the fund-raising element underlines our responsibility to our global community.”