Boothroyd Family Afternoon raises over £400 towards defibrillator appeal

The event, organised by the school’s community champion, Mandi Reeve, was held at the academy, in Dewsbury, on Monday, July 4, and raised a total of £466.50.

The free Family Afternoon involved activities such as face painting, henna, a magic show, bouncy castle, go-karts, ice cream, a uniform stall, a book stall and a visit from the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The event was also supported by local organisations such as Locala and Co-op.

Mandi said: “We really wanted to get all the families back together after Covid-19.

“We haven't had big events going on and parents haven't been able to come to the school - there has been a barrier.

“To break that barrier down now, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get everyone back in so they are comfortable coming back into school but to also give them and the children some fun.”

The afternoon was opened by the Mayor of Kirklees, Coun Masood Ahmed.

Talking at the event, Coun Ahmed said: “It was very important for me to open today’s event because I have got an affiliation with the school.

“To open their Family Fun Day was a privilege and an honour because some of the families, parents and young people haven't been able to do anything like this for a couple of years now due to the pandemic.

“To see the smiles on their faces, it has just been wonderful.

“The school is in desperate need of getting a defibrillator and from what I know they are £400 short - I urge anyone out there to dig deep into their pockets.

“I would just like to thank the school for inviting me, it was a pleasure and good luck in raising the money for the good cause.”

The initial theme for the event was to bring families together for a fun family afternoon.

However, due to the school still being £400 short of its £1,999 target for the defibrillator appeal, the school decided to turn the Family Afternoon into a fundraising event.

Since the event took place, Mandi has revealed that the target has been hit, with £466.50 raised in total on the day.

This means a defibrillator will now be fitted on-site - protecting the lives of more than 800 school children.

Mandi said: “I got a grant to cover the main costs of the event so there was no detriment to school funds but we have been trying to get a defibrillator on site for the past year.

“So, the idea was to put some collection buckets out, with everything being free, to see if parents could contribute a little bit.

“Because of this we managed to raise £466.50 and are now able to get the defibrillator installed on-site.

“Thank you so much, at the end of the day this will benefit not only our school but the school community.

“A big thank you also to everyone that came, the teachers, support staff and everyone that has helped me and supported this event.”