Culloden Academy’s countdown to Christmas for Highland Food Bank

(left to right) Mrs Odette Gordon, Erin Matheson, Erin Kelly, Abigail Stephen, Deryn Murphy, Kirsty Vickerman, Carys Johns, Kirstin Moir, Bromwyn Crow, Eve Hart.

(Back left to right) Callum Fraser, Alasdair Prott, Angus Lawrie, Andrew Cruickshank, Jed Scott, Philip Nicol.

Pupils, staff and parents of Culloden Academy have made a significant donation to the Blythswood Highland Food Bank which will help feed families in Inverness over Christmas and into January 2019.

The school’s sixth year senior prefects organised a reverse advent calendar to help collect non-perishable food items for the Inverness Food Bank. The idea was put forward by Odette Gordon, Principal Teacher of Social Subjects, who said: “Our prefects have really taken it on board and the response from the community has been overwhelming.”

A reverse advent calendar works on the principle of giving items during advent rather than receiving. In 2017 Highland Food Bank fed over 6,200 people across the Highlands and distributed 50 tonnes of food to people and families struggling to put food on the table.

Acing Rector, Tracey Lomas said: “Our pupils wanted to do something for families that may be struggling over Christmas and felt that collecting for the Highland Food Bank would be a practical way in which the school could support the wider community.

“We are very pleased with the level of donations received and are delighted to hand them over to Blythswood.”

More information can be found on the charity’s website at https://www.blythswood.org/highland-foodbank

The photograph represents only part of the prefect team, including those who went to Blythswood to deliver and help sort the food. The pupils took along 682.56kg of food and will have more food to deliver at the end of this week’s collection.