Havant schoolchildren celebrate harvest with hearty donations

The pupils at Fairfield Infant School in Havant brought a generous amount of food to be donated to the Beacon Food Bank yesterday.

Parents were encouraged to dig deep for the drive, topping several tables with tins of beans, soup, custard and other non-perishables.

Bags of pasta and rice were also contributed by the families of Fairfield pupils, as well as plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The harvest celebrations were led by David Morgan, a curate at the nearby St Faith’s Church.

Mr Morgan gave an educational and enlightening talk to pupils at the Fairfield Road school about the many places that food comes from, as well as who the pupils should thank for giving them the food.

He said: ‘It was really lovely to come to and share the Harvest festival with Fairfield Infant School for the first time.

‘It is hopefully the first of many visits to come.’

Mandy Hall, headteacher at the infant school, said: ‘This is my first Harvest festival at Fairfield Infants and I am very impressed by everyone’s generosity.

‘It reflects the school’s ethos of “rights respecting”.’

Pupils found themselves fully immersed in the harvest celebrations, having prepared a song to sing for the occasion.

The children also kept with the traditions of the festival by finishing with a thanksgiving prayer.

Six-year-old pupil Lily said: ‘Harvest festival is good because the food goes to children and adults who live nearby and don’t have much food.’

‘At Harvest we say thank you to God for all the food’, added fellow pupil Ben, also six.

Co-ordinated by the Portsdown Community Church, the Beacon Food Bank collects food donations to creative hampers for those in need in the Havant borough.

Deputy headteacher Alex Taylor said: ‘The children brought in a lovely variety of gifts which were generously donated by parents.

‘We chose to donate the produce to the Beacon Food Bank because it is a charity that has helped a couple of our parents in times of need.’