Kirklees school pupils help raise money for polio mission

Apr 6 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

SCHOOL pupils are helping save the lives of thousands of slum children in India.

More than 2,000 pupils from four schools in Mirfield and Dewsbury raised over £1,000.

The cash will help immunise 5,000 slum children in India against the dreadful disease of polio.

Pupils were moved to help the children when they heard about the danger of the paralysing disease to the under-fives in the Lucknow area of India.

Catherine Lockwood, headteacher at Crossley Fields Junior and Infant School in Mirfield, said: “The children were moved to hear that in Lucknow poverty and a lack of health care threaten the lives of young children.

“They felt a strong urge to help the slum children.”

Other schools that raised funds were Battyeford Primary School and Old Bank Junior and Infant School – both in Mirfield – and Westborough High School in Dewsbury.

The children were told about the terrible plight of the youngsters by Mirfield Rotarian Chris Philip.