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Students from Tormead School, Guildford have spent the last few months collecting pennies from neighbours, friends & family. Last weekend, all the children from Lansdown Road, Jasmine, Leila, Sam, Ross, Dudley, Alex and James (aged from 3-14 years), lined the street with 10,933 pennies.
"It was great fun, providing many challenges - not only in collecting the pennies but also lining the pennies up on the road, then clearing them up and counting them!", explains Anne Haynes-Parry, mother of Jasmine and Leila. "The kids had to work together as a team and the activity provided an opportunity for all the children to get to know each other better. Afterwards, we all had a celebration party!"
Jasmine and Leila wanted to help a local charity and were aware of The Stephanie Marks Appeal through their school. Stephanie Marks sadly died a few years ago at the age of 17, having shared her life with the condition. Funds raised will support a community wide project, improving the level of diabetes service. A new resource centre based on the St Peter's Hospital site in Chertsey will house treatment, education and research facilities and link to GP clinics and community hospitals throughout parts of Surrey and Middlesex.
The parents felt that it was a great way to show the kids that every penny really does count. Even fairly worthless pennies (on their own) can be accumulated to represent a valuable charitable donation. The activity will now be an annual event for Lansdown Road with the challenge set to collect even more pennies and to make our line longer every year.
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