A COFFEE morning at a school was taken to heart after one student was diagnosed with neuroblastoma over the summer.

Winton Community Academy organised a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, which eventually extended to two days, and then featured a series of student challenges for the remainder of the week to raise as much money for the charity as possible with a target of £1,000 which was surpassed by more than £100.

The fundraising was close to the heart of the students after Year 7 students Ryan Hoar was diagnosed with neuroblastoma over the summer.

Named the Chivers Challenge, as it was organised by Sally Chivers and the school's pastoral team, students and staff took part in a task of eating as much cake as possible while Theo Dominy helped his mentor group raise £350 by having his head shaved by assistant headteacher Sean Flavell

Mr Flavell said: “Theo was incredibly brave and keen to raise a significant sum for the charity by allowing me to shave his hair, he is representative of the amazing young people who attend the school.”

Around the academy, people were also being encouraged to guess how many sweets were in the jar, had their legs waxed, collected coins in a tube, purchased sweets from a stall and bought friendship bracelets made by our students, all to raise the cash.

Although not at school at the moment Ryan came in with his mum Liz to add £21.65 to the fund by having his own cake sale and to accept the cheque on behalf of MacMillan Cancer Support.

Mrs Chivers, Head of Pastoral Care, “This shows how the children at Winton are so supportive of each other, they couldn’t wait to get the fundraising started to show their support for Ryan and others in his position."