Portsmouth schoolchildren to be given a free Easter egg after businesses rally round and collect more than 1,000

Inspired partly by teachers’ fears that some children may not receive one at home with the increased cost of living pressuring many families’ finances, more than 1,000 chocolate eggs have been collected.

The campaign was first launched by Victory Primary in Allaway Avenue which said it had been ‘overwhelmed’ by donations and was later extended to also include Beacon View Primary Academy, also in Allaway Avenue, and St Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Bourne Road.

Restaurateur and Paulsgrove councillor George Madgwick, who runs Valletta in Drayton, collected 450 chocolate eggs which he has matched in a personal donation and these will be delivered to the schools on Thursday (March 23).

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‘The campaign has been brilliant,’ he said. ‘It’s been great to see all the support and donations we’ve received and shows what a fantastic community there is in Paulsgrove.

‘It means that every primary school kid will get an Easter egg this year and there were genuine concerns that many would go without because of the cost of living crisis.’

Among the other organisations to provide donations directly to the schools have been St Michael & All Angels church and South 125’s motorcycle dealership.

The eggs will be distributed to every child at the three schools before they break up for Easter next week.

Sally Hodgson, Beacon View Primary Academy’s principal, said the school had originally decided to not ask for donations to avoid burdening businesses but welcomed the campaign.

‘George had seen that our sister school, the Victory School, had written to the local community asking for donations, and he approached us to ask if we were doing the same,’ she said. ‘We explained that we had not as we did not want to put pressure on local businesses with a second school asking for donations.

‘George then generously offered to donate the eggs to us himself which we are delighted to receive from him as a local businessman and I am sure the children will be absolutely thrilled.’