East Ren pupils rally for communities near and far

St Ninian’s girls Caitlin MacDonald and Maria Kent (both S2) braved a 200 metre zipslide off the roof of Xscape recently in aid of SNAC (Scottish Network for Arthritis in Children).

The duo raised over £900 for the charity in honour of Maria’s twin brother, Jonathan, who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in 2010.

Maria commented: “When we first joined SNAC, we attended a family weekend away in Crieff Hydro, which the whole family benefitted from.

“Not only did we learn a lot of about my brother’s illness, we also made loads of new friends whom we still keep in touch with today.

“Since then, my parents have joined the SNAC committee and we’ve attended lots of events.

“We would really like to thank everyone who supported us in this sponsorship.”

Elsewhere, Kirkhill Primary pupils donned their wellies for an action-packed fun day in aid of charity Farm Africa.

Some 640 children tackled an obstacle course set by the eco committee on the school track as part of Kirkhill’s global charity day.

The youngsters clocked up nearly 1,000 welly miles between them — and over £1,000 for Give Hunger the Boot, an appeal for farmers across eastern Africa.

Principal teacher Lisa David told The Extra: “The children were really excited to wear their wellies to raise money for such an important cause.

“This year’s global charity day supported Farm Africa because it gives communities in eastern Africa the tools they need to dig themselves out of poverty.

“The event was a fun and exciting way of engaging pupils with our theme of responsible and global citizenship.

“We want them to be aware that life for other children around the world is very different from our own, but that if we all work together we can help end real hardship.”