'Great fun': Howwood Primary pupils collect 40,000 pennies

Abigail Jackson, primary six, has been raising money for St Vincent’s Hospice since she was young, and this year chose to try something different.

Having previously taken on walking fundraisers and completed 100 laps of her school playground, she asked her fellow pupils and teachers to help with her next project - the penny mile challenge.

This is the collection of one-pence coins which when laid out will span a mile and usually take around 80,000, an approximate total of £800.

Abigail managed to round up her whole village, getting friends, families, and neighbours to donate what they could to the cause.

In the end, the school was able to lay out roughly half a mile of coins, around 40,000 of them.

Pupils from all primaries took part and had a great time drawing chalk lines across the ground and setting out the pennies on top.

The donations are soon to be given over to the hospice, but further donations are still expected to come in.

Shirley Ormond, headteacher, said: “Our school motto is creating great citizens and that’s what we try to achieve by doing projects like this.

“The hospice is close to everyone's hearts. Most local communities have had loved ones supported there at some point, so things like this are really important. In the school, we have hosted a number of events to support the hospice and will continue to do so.

“The best thing was it brought the whole village together and they had good fun. The children have had a great time and all for a good cause.”