WHETHER ‘sponging ‘ their teachers, selling homemade goods or competing in tugs of war or football shoot-outs, pupils at Lydiard Park Academy stopped at nothing to raise funds for children facing adversity or abuse across Swindon.

Nearly 230 students from the school’s Pascal house were out in force, holding stalls or organising fun sports games and activities for their classmates, in a bid to collect funds for the child protection charity NSPCC and change the lives of hundreds of local youngsters.

Taking time off from their studies, they each played on their strengths to collect valuable funds and were even joined by teachers, who performed at a sell-out gig for the Go Green event.

Gareth Williams, history teacher and head of Pascal at the school, was delighted with his pupils’ creativity in devising ways to attract donations for a worthy cause.

“About 230 pupils got involved in running the event, “he said. “We had a couple of assemblies about it and you could see the penny was dropping for a lot of people. It’s been a bit of mayhem but they’ve been really motivated, it seems. I think it’s important for them to do things for charity.”

The Go Green NSPCC campaign launched in Swindon and has now spread to the whole of the South West. Under the initiative schools, businesses and organisations don green – the charity’s colour – and raise funds towards helpline ChildLine as well as its many local projects.

Katherine Brooks, 12, opted to sell NSPCC badges, bands and cupcakes in support of the charity day.

“We wanted to help people in need and less fortunate than us,” she said. “I think raising money helps give people an idea of how much we can help. It also makes you realise how lucky you are.”

Her schoolmate Chloe Sallwood, 12, added: “We feel that we are helping so many people. It’s been fun. Seeing people buying our staff has been the best part.”

Caroline Morgan, NSPCC community fundraising manager for Swindon, was impressed with pupils’ commitment and teachers’ readiness to get ‘sponged’.

“They’ve all got so involved, it’s just brilliant,” she said. “This event has been great. It has meant that we have been able to speak to all the kids in the school during assembly and explain the work the charity does. They were inspired by it and that’s the result of it.

“Go Green is an easy thing to do. Everybody can have a bit of fun and help to raise money for children across the country.”