Ringwood School students donate to Christmas homeless appeal

The fantastic response by youngsters at Ringwood School is for the Danny Cracknell Homeless at Christmas Appeal which, with the help of the Salvation Army, will see every item distributed this winter to some of the most vulnerable members of the community.

Ringwood mayor Cllr Gareth DeBoos along with representatives from the Salvation Army and the Danny Cracknell Appeal team joined Ringwood Sixth Form students to collect, sort and pack up the items ready for distribution.

Leanne Symonds, headteacher, said “We are delighted to once again support the Danny Cracknell Homeless at Christmas appeal.

“The school students and families donated over 2,500 items for the most vulnerable in our community in this year’s appeal. I am proud of their response and the kindness they have shown towards strangers at this time of year.

Ringwood School students donate over 2,000 items of food, toiletries and clothing for Danny Cracknell Homeless at Christmas Appeal. (Image: Ringwood School)

“I extend particular thanks to our families who are themselves finding things more difficult than usual this year and yet have still helped others.”

The appeal, which has been running for 30 years, was originally set up by Danny Cracknell who was mayor of Ringwood until his passing in 2010. It aims to help those less fortunate than others by providing them tinned items, toiletries and clothing over the Christmas period.

Dr Abernethy, head of Anning House at Ringwood School, added: “The buzz in the room was amazing, it was so uplifting and inspiring to see the groups of students arrive from each tutor group with armfuls of donations for the Danny Cracknell Homeless at Christmas Appeal.

“Our Sixth Form students were brilliant at getting stuck in helping to count, sort and stack the donations ready to be loaded into the Salvation Army vans. Thank you to all students and families of Ringwood School for their support in this appeal.”