450 pupils make school caretaker’s big day even bigger
THE much-loved caretaker at a primary school walked down the aisle in front of hundreds of delighted pupils.
Cindy Caffin, 57, was overjoyed when the entire school took part in her nuptials to partner, Dave, 62.
Her dad Ray Gaunt, 74, walked her down the aisle and her reception was held on the school field.
Pupils at St Barnabas Church of England Primary School, Erdington, Birmingham, had been helping to plan Cindy’s wedding since the start of the year, after a suggestion from deputy head Jenny Arnold.
Cindy, who has worked at the school for 27 years, said: “I was really nervous about getting married in front of so many people. I don’t like Cindy, 57, and new husband Dave, 62, with 450 children from her school
all the attention being on me but it was such a special day for everyone.
“One of the parents baked 450 cupcakes and another made my cake. It was lovely to see the children so excited in the run up. They’d all made little gifts to present to us at the reception as well – it was adorable.”
Cindy, who met Dave in 1979, added: “It was such a great day and so wonderful to share it with the school as they’re like family to me. It really was one of the best days of our lives.” Ms Arnold added: “Since we began planning this day at the start of the year it has just got bigger and bigger.
“Cindy goes above and beyond at any opportunity.
“We had afternoon tea on the field. It was a day to remember.”
She added: “It’s really important to allow the children to enjoy life experiences as part of the curriculum.” CHILDREN whose parents smoke are more likely to suffer from an irregular heartbeat in later life.
Researchers who studied more than 5,000 under-18s over 40 years found a link between second-hand smoke and atrial fibrillation.
Some 82 per cent of the children were exposed to second-hand smoke with parents having a daily average of 10 cigarettes.
Around one in seven of the youngsters developed the heart condition.
The study also found 17 per cent of children with smokers for parents went on to smoke too.
Co-author Prof Gregory Marcus, of University of California, said: “Our observations highlight the harms associated to close and the most vulnerable members of the family.
“It is imperative to address risk factors such as cigarette smoking.”
The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.