School in a Bag 2016

Hassocks schoolchildren pack 90 school bags

For the third year in succession Year 2 pupils at Hassocks Infants School have worked with the Club to support School in a Bag (SIAB). This charity, established soon after the 2004 tsunami which devastated countries around the Pacific rim, delivers backpacks to deprived children all around the world. Each is filled with learning resources to enable children to write, draw, colour, calculate, express themselves and above all learn, giving them the opportunity to enjoy a better life. The packs also contain a bowl, a plate and a water bottle to enable the children to have a meal during the school day. To date the charity has delivered over 65000 school bags in 32 countries.

The children at the school organised fund raising activities, including a sponsored silence, after the half term break at the end of May and on 27 June Luke Simon, the CEO and founder of SIAB, visited the school to supervise the packing of 90 school bags funded jointly by the children and the Club. He explained the reasons for supplying learning resources to children all around the world, emphasising that they had few if any of the items in the packed bags and that helping them to have an education would give them the opportunity to have a better quality of life. The children needed a little help to fill the bags and this was provided by President Jenny, John and Pam Bailey, Bill and Sue Hatton, Julie Smyth, John Tollemache, Joy and myself.  President Jenny took the opportunity to present Luke with a donation from the Club. It wasn’t clear whether the children or club members and their wives enjoyed the afternoon most.        

The headmistress, Jeannie Hughes, expressed her delight that her pupils had again been given the opportunity to support this excellent project, saying that, in her view, it was very important that the children at her school were helped to realise that there were so many children in the world who were far worse off than they were. She said that she was pleased that her school and the Club would be collaborating again next year to support SIAB.