Teaching assistant, Lorenzo Monteforte, recently organised for pupils at Fulbridge Primary School, Peterborough to take part in a fundraising event to help raise awareness of arthritis throughout National Arthritis Week.
Lorenzo planned for 540 children to take part in a 20 minute sponsored walk, in order to help raise the awareness of arthritis and the work that Arthritis Research UK do to support people who have the condition.
The children successfully raised sponsorship for walking laps of their playground during their P.E lesson, and wore an item of orange clothing to raise the awareness of arthritis. One child also made fridge magnets to sell amongst his peers to help boost his sponsorship money.
One child in Reception, Tyrese Summers, was the school’s highest fundraiser raising a total of £47.
Lorenzo Monteforte, also a volunteer for the charity, explained “I’ve wanted to do a fundraising event at the school for a while because I fear that not enough children are aware of arthritis and the affects it has on both children and adults.”
He continued “It was great to see the children take such an interest in the condition and were willing to support it in any way they could. The outcome was successful and we raised just over £400, which the charity can do a lot with. I will look forward to sharing this fundraising event with other schools in the area in the near future.”
Michael Clarke, Regional Fundraising Manager for Arthritis Research UK visited the school to thank the children for their hard work and efforts. He said “The students seemed genuinely shocked that arthritis affects over 15,000 children in the UK. Hopefully the efforts of the staff and students of Fulbridge Primary School will inspire other schools to do their own fundraising event for the charity too.”
To organise your own fundraising event for Arthritis Research UK, contact Michael Clarke by emailing m.clarke@arthritisresearchuk.orgor call 01733 331721.