A primary school in Cardiff has taken part in an impressive fundraising challenge as it returns to normality after the Covid pandemic. On Friday, pupils of Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch raised money for the school by sitting on every one of the 33,289 seats at Cardiff City Stadium in the Leckwith area of the city. That’s an average of 90 seats for each of the 380 Pwll Coch kids aged 4-11 years participating.
After a challenging two years due to the pandemic, pupils at Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch decided to help fundraise for a new mental health and wellbeing facilities for the school. So far, they have raised over £2,000. The funds raised will be used to develop accessible and inclusive health hubs at the school - something that headmaster Dewi Rees said was more important than ever.
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"A s a school we put pupil voice at the heart of our ethos and actions," Mr Rees said. "It’s great to see the pupils getting involved by fundraising for resources that will have a positive impact on their school life.
"Every school has gone through such a difficult and challenging time over the last two years. It has been very challenging for every child as well - they've been away from the school; away from their friends and learning in the classroom.
"Since January, with most regulations coming to an end, schools have been able to move away from restrictions and holding events like this today is now possible.
"We are so excited for this fundraising - both the pupils and the teachers are getting involved. For the last couple of weeks, the teachers have been practicing their sit-downs in the teacher's room.
"The idea behind this today is to build a health hub for the school - a room where the pupils can come for support in their academic, social and personal developments, clubs and groups, which will all be for their wellbeing."
Two that were participating in the event was 10-year-old Johnny from Year 5 and 11-year-old Ciara from Year 6. Both were looking forward to taking part in the event with their friends.
"Covid has been hard," Johnny said. "I was away from my friends for so long. I'll be doing this challenge with them, which I'm really excited about." Ciara agreed and said: "Doing school work from home and being stuck in the house was really difficult. But now that we can do stuff like this is amazing. The money that we will raise is so important because it will create a place where we can talk and I think a lot of people want to talk about stuff after Covid."
To aid the kids in their efforts was Cardiff City and Wales U19 footballer Phoebie Poole. According to the footballer, the event signified the importance of coming together and being active after the last two years. She said: "I'm here to motivate and support the kids, but all in all it's about having fun really.
"It's so important this day and age that kids talk to someone about anything really, anything that is on their mind. It's so good that they are getting a hub for these kids to do exactly that. We've been in lockdowns as well, getting these kids doing exercise will definitely be good for their physical and mental health.
"It's a really positive thing happening here - both for the school and the club, it's about community spirit."
