Pupils at Bristol’s Steiner School in Redland have staged a walk through the city streets in solidarity with homeless people.
The primary school children raised £1,002 for a homelessness charity with their event.
Class teacher Andrea Cullen said the children wanted to fund raise after an assembly about the importance of supporting those who are more vulnerable than us in Bristol. Children took a vote to decide how to help, and came up with a project for homeless people.
Andrea said: “The most children voted for Bristol Outreach Services for the Homeless (BOSH), a homeless charity that provides food, haircuts, access to books and laptops, job-seeking and clothes.”
Pupils said they felt homeless people needed extra support. Eyal, aged 10, said: “I chose BOSH because I see lots of people who live on the street in Bristol and think about how cold they must be, especially in winter.”
Eight year old Zephyr said: “I voted for the homeless charity because I hoped the money we raised could help to find them a home.”
Andrea said the whole school, with children aged 4-11, took part in the vote – and then her class did the walk through local streets where homeless people sometimes sleep on the open.
She said: “They did a sponsored walk from our school in Redland to Ashton Court to the deer park as part of our Human and Animal main lesson.”
Children in her class also made popcorn and flapjack for half a term, each Thursday, and sold it to the other classes, and they made videos to send to their relatives who lived faraway to encourage them to donate to their Just Giving page.
The private school follows the philosophy of founder Rudolf Steiner, which believes in “child-centred, relational approach to learning” and a commitment to promoting the development of the whole child.