School pupils show they are well red

Sam EmanuelSchool pupils have donned their brightest red clothes to raise money for the Red Cross in Haiti after a topical assembly touched their hearts.Sam Emanuel

School pupils have donned their brightest red clothes to raise money for the Red Cross in Haiti after a topical assembly touched their hearts.

Children at Coltishall Primary School wore red for the non-uniform day in return for a donation to the appeal, raising a total of �150 which will be doubled by the school council.

The children have been encouraged to find out about the earthquake at home, by watching the news and researching on the internet, and head teacher Mark Adamson has also given an assembly about the disaster.

He said: 'The response from the children and their parents has been absolutely fantastic. We have about 150 boys and girls and asked them each to donate 50p, but they were very generous and we got �150, which we were delighted about.

'The assembly was to ask them what they knew about Haiti and it obviously struck a chord with many of them, as they felt sorry for the children out there.

'I am very proud of them - it's fantastic that the boys and girls in Coltishall can empathise and understand the suffering that people out there are going through.'

The Caribbean island's earthquake happened on January 12 this year and killed almost 170,000 people, as well as destroying 20,000 commercial buildings and 225,000 houses, and the International Red Cross has estimated that about three million people were affected by the quake.

Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks were also damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts.

Has your school organised a special event? Call Sam Emanuel on 01603 772438 or email sam.emanuel@archant.co.uk.