A Cardiff primary school welcomed a very special visitor this week to celebrate a special member of staff and her contribution to raising funds to make a difference to the lives of children across the UK.
BBC Children in Need’s Pudsey Bear popped into St Mary the Virgin Church in Wales Primary School to visit the children and say thank you and bid goodbye to teaching assistant Pam Perry who has been co-ordinating the school’s fundraising efforts for the charity for 16 years.
Mrs Perry has spearheaded the school’s Children in Need activities since joining the staff in 1996 on a temporary basis. However, she has been at the Butetown school ever since and has raised over £3,000 for the charity during that time by organising special Pudsey breakfasts, cake sales and fancy dress parades.
She will be retiring in April 2012 so this is the last year she will be co-ordinating St Mary the Virgin’s Children in Need efforts. This year, the school will be holding a competition on Friday November 18 for the children to showcase their talents as well as raising funds for a good cause.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “My warm wishes for a happy retirement go to Mrs Perry. I’m sure she will be sorely missed at St Mary the Virgin Primary School. Her efforts to raise money for Children in Need over the years have been fantastic.”
Headteacher Ruth Jackson, said: “Mrs Perry has been a stalwart of our fundraising activity here at St Mary the Virgin for a number of years and we were delighted Pudsey was able to pop in to mark her last Children in Need with us.
“Mrs Perry is an outstanding member of staff – she contributes so much to the school from running the tuck shop to the library and the gardening club. She is a real all-rounder who will be very hard to replace.”
