School’s support for PKAVS

Children from Forgandenny Primary school have spent the year fundraising for a Perth charity dedicated to mental health and wellbeing.

The pupils recently raised more than £250 for PKAVS by holding a community coffee morning where all the classes performed on stage.

They are continuing to support The Walled Garden by taking donations at their Christmas performances and Christmas Jumper Day.

The school are also planning to organise small groups of children to visit the site and help with some of the gardening.

Class teacher, Melanie Duffy, said: “Fifty percent of mental health problems are established by age 14 so we decided to plan for a whole school project on positive mental health.

“We feel it is extremely important that our children are confident in identifying their feelings but, more importantly, know when to seek help.

“As part of our project we made links with The Walled Garden and decided that would be our charity focus for this academic year.”

Janice Paterson, recovery and development officer at The Walled Garden, welcomed the school raising awareness of mental ill-health.

She said: “We are hugely grateful for the money raised and excited that their support will continue into next year.

“We are also excited about the great work they are doing breaking down the stigma towards mental health.”