The Chill Zone - Fab fundraising from Belmont Grosvenor
17th September 2009
Youngsters at a leading North Yorkshire prep school have been enjoying the taste of summer – and helping raise money for a good cause too!
Ice cream has been top of the menu at Belmont Grosvenor School each Friday afternoon when the Chill Zone has opened up in the grounds.
Pupils at the co-educational school have been buying delicious ice-cream cornets at the Friday Chill Zone each week – with proceeds split between Harrogate charity The Carers’ Resouce and the school’s Parent Teacher Association.
Ice cream sales from the PTA-run Chill Zone have raised £1000 – and last week Jo Webster from the Young Carers Team at Carers’ Resouce dropped into the school, based at Swarcliffe Hall, Birstwith, to enjoy a cornet and explain how the £500 will be spent. The money will be directed towards young carers in the Harrogate district, and will help fund day trips, courses and other activities for young people caring for parents or siblings.
Belmont Grosvenor PTA Chair Charlie Brooksbank said the Chill Zone had been a great success – with children at Belmont Grosvenor devouring 144 litres of ice cream during nine weeks the past nine weeks and enjoying a range of flavour from vanilla and mint chocolate chip, to butterscotch. “It has been a great success and proved extremely popular with the children. Each week, the children voted on the flavour they wanted sold the following week – the most popular flavour has definitely been chocolate,” she said.
“We are delighted to have raised so much money – with £500 going to Carers’ Resource and the remaining money going towards the refurbishment of the school’s pre-prep library,” she said.
Birchfield Family Dairies, based at Summerbridge, provided the ice-cream and cornets for Chill Zone – and was delighted to get involved and support a local school and charity.
Martin Whitley, from the dairy, said: “The Chill Zone has been such a good idea and we are really happy to get involved in helping raise money for a good cause.”
Belmont Grosvenor Head Teacher Jane Merriman said: “Children love ice cream and what a great way to raise money for a really worthwhile charity. The initiative has been a huge success and has helped the children to understand and appreciate that other youngsters do not have the same opportunities as themselves. It has been fabulous to come together with a local dairy to support Carers’ Resource. “
Belmont Grosvenor School, which caters for children aged from three months with its Magic Tree Day Care Nursery, to 11 years, has raised thousands of pounds in recent years for Carers Resource.
Last year’s Summer Ball raised a massive £7,500 for the charity, which again was directed towards the Young Carers Team at the charity.
