Pupils raise £4,000 for Southampton Hospital with sale of wristbands for Kyle Rees (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Pupils raise £4,000 for Southampton Hospital with sale of wristbands for Kyle Rees
12:00pm Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News By Jane Reader
WE’VE DONE IT: Friends of Kyle Rees with their charity wristbands, from left are Ellis Reeves, Louis Rylance, Sintija Morgan, Dan May and Reece McAneny
BUSINESS-MINDED students who raised cash in memory of their friend Kyle Rees have presented a cheque for £4,000 to the hospital that cared for him before he died.
Team 4K from Avonbourne College sold wristbands after securing a £1,000 loan from Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones.
Not only have they been able to repay the loan but £4,000 profit has been presented to Southampton General Hospital’s paediatric intensive care ward.
And they also won the national Community Engagement Award in Peter Jones’ Tycoon Competition for schools.
Kyle, 16, died after a tragic accident in which he was hit on the head with an indoor practice cricket ball at neighbouring Portchester School, now Harewood College in Harewood Avenue, Bournemouth.
The five sixth formers, Daniel May, Louis Rylance, Tom Mansfield, Reece McAneny and Sintija Morgan, have been working hard on the project with the support of Kyle’s grieving mum, Tanya Cooper.
Sintija said: “This is the moment we have all been working so hard for. This is our way of saying thank you to the staff that cared for Kyle and to also support them in helping other young people who are very ill and in need of intensive care.”
And Tanya added: “Seeing Kyle’s friends put so much positive energy into raising money in his memory has given me so much strength.
“The last year has been incredibly difficult for everyone who loved Kyle and I am so touched that his friends’ efforts will create a lasting legacy in his name that will help other young people.”
The friends have pledged to continue fund raising for the hospital and their head teacher, Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, said: “We are so proud of the students – they have channelled their sadness of losing a dear friend into something really positive.”
