Red clothes, wigs and noses mark ‘Big One'

RED was the only colour to be seen in last Friday when schoolchildren and cadets got into the spirit of Red Nose Day - the national fundraiser for Comic Relief. Hundreds of young people in Bordon spent the day sporting oversized red clothes and pyjamas to mark this year's theme, "The Big One", as well as wigs, face paints and, of course, big red noses. Between them, they raised hundreds of pounds for the charity, which helps disadvantaged people and communities across the United Kingdom to turn around their lives, and gives the poorest people in Africa a better chance in life. Woodlea Primary School in Whitehill, Bordon Junior and Infant schools and St Matthew's Primary School in Blackmoor all held sponsored mufti days to generate cash for the good cause. All the pupils from reception class to year six at Woodlea took part in the event and chipped into the £200 total. One girl even turned up wearing a giant furry red nose her mother had spent two weeks making. Headteacher Melanie Williams explained that the children had been looking at why it was important to raise money for charities, such as Comic Relief, focusing particularly on how the cash helps the plight of children in Malawi. She said: "This is part of our curriculum work on the 'other three Rs' - rights, responsibilities and respect - based on UNICEF's recognised rights of the child. "The children here know they have the right to go to school. "They have all made paper doll chains to signify those children who don't have the opportunity to go to school and how lucky we are to have that right. "We have also talked about our society being based on an ethos of respect and how that requires our young people to be good citizens within society. "We have all had good fun, but also learnt about the serious issues behind the fundraising." Students at Mill Chase Community College also took the opportunity to address some serious issues while helping Comic Relief - in this case the need for young people to stay healthy and active. PE staff at the school organised a giant benchball (a version of dodgeball) tournament, featuring more than 200 students in teams which represented each year, with the proceeds from a £1 entry fee going towards Red Nose Day. Teachers, who had formed their own team for the competition, told The Herald that, although there were prizes for the winning teams, the emphasis of the contest was on being active and working as a team. Twenty young cadets, aged eight to 18, at Bordon's Adven-ture Ranger Corps expect to have raised more than £100 from paying to attend a meeting at Pinewood Village Hall in pyjamas rather than uniforms. Staff Sergeant Dorothy Beardsall, who raised more than £60 with her two cadet sons by wearing pyjamas all day, said the cadets had "almost had a night off" from the usual drills and standing to attention. She said everyone had appreciated the break and looked forward to another one this coming weekend when they attend Cadet Camp in Sopley, New Forest. More than £40.2m had been raised across the UK by Tuesday for this year's Comic Relief, coming from sponsored events and pledges made during a seven-hour BBC1 telethon last Friday.