Nursery children raise more than £300 in sponsored kangaroo hop for Australia

LITTLE kangaroos have taken over at a Purbrook nursery as children have been hopping around to raise money for Australia.
Belinda Dickins
By Belinda Dickins
Published 30th Jan 2020, 13:40 BST
Updated 31st Jan 2020, 20:41 BST
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Toddlers at Rocking Horse pre-school and nursery on London Road have spent this week hopping through a small obstacle course in the garden in a bid to raise funds for animals affected by bushfires.

The children were learning about different countries when they were told about the devastating bushfires.

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Helen O’Hara, nursery manager, said: ‘We started talking about what had happened there and the children showed real empathy and concern about the animals, and the people obviously, but children being children they wanted to know what had happened to the animals.

Effy Wells, three, managed to raise £160 for charities helping animals suffering during the Australian bushfires after her mum posted this picture on Facebook. She has been taking part in a sponsored kangaroo hop at Rocking Horse nursery in Purbrook this weekEffy Wells, three, managed to raise £160 for charities helping animals suffering during the Australian bushfires after her mum posted this picture on Facebook. She has been taking part in a sponsored kangaroo hop at Rocking Horse nursery in Purbrook this week
Effy Wells, three, managed to raise £160 for charities helping animals suffering during the Australian bushfires after her mum posted this picture on Facebook. She has been taking part in a sponsored kangaroo hop at Rocking Horse nursery in Purbrook this week

‘So I had an idea of putting together a little sponsorship for the parents to get involved in, in the form of a kangaroo hop, which is what we’ve been doing for the whole week.’

Generous parents, friends and family have been very supportive of the cause, with more than £300 raised so far.

Helen added: ‘It was a nice learning curve for the children to learn about, albeit quite a sensitive and difficult subject, they really showed a lot of concern and they really wanted to do this.

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‘We had one child in particular who really took it to heart and shared it with mum who put it onto social media which went mad and raised over £100 just by herself which was fantastic.’

Toddlers and children at Rocking Horse nursery, Purbrook, have so far raised £300 for the Australian bush fire relief fund by holding a ‘Kangaroo Hop’ event. Pictured: Children jump for joy as they celebrate having raised over £300 for the charity. Picture: Habibur RahmanToddlers and children at Rocking Horse nursery, Purbrook, have so far raised £300 for the Australian bush fire relief fund by holding a ‘Kangaroo Hop’ event. Pictured: Children jump for joy as they celebrate having raised over £300 for the charity. Picture: Habibur Rahman
Toddlers and children at Rocking Horse nursery, Purbrook, have so far raised £300 for the Australian bush fire relief fund by holding a ‘Kangaroo Hop’ event. Pictured: Children jump for joy as they celebrate having raised over £300 for the charity. Picture: Habibur Rahman

The child was three-year-old Effy Wells, who came home after learning about the animals and wanted to help as much as she could.

Mum Becky Hill said: ‘Effy came home a bit worried and concerned about Australia because she loves animals.’

The pair wrote on a doodle pad “help the animals” and shared it on Facebook, leading to Effy raising £160 towards the nursery’s cause and even receiving money from family in Australia.

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Rocking Horse is a full-time nursery offering places from six months to school age, and is part of the A Step Ahead nursery group.

If anyone wants to donate to the sponsored kangaroo hop, Helen said they are welcome to contact the nursery on (023) 9225 0890.

Related topics:AustraliaLondon RoadFacebook

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