Grease is the word for charity fund-raisers

The teachers and pupils at St Aidan’s Catholic Academy held a Grease Night, themed around the popular musical, to boost funds for people in the city who are living with cancer.

Along with the night, the school also held a non-uniform day and when all the money was collected in from both they had raised £2,740 for charity.

The charity’s themed evening is now in its third year and raising money for Macmillan Sunderland Cancer Support is very close to the hearts of everyone at the cause.

One of the event organisers, Bernadette Foreman, who herself suffered from cancer only four years ago, and teacher Donna Humble worked tirelessly together for months to organise this amazing event.

A number of businesses in the area helped out by donating a raft of prizes for the event, including vouchers for salon treatments, meals and cinema tickets.

A spokeswoman for the school said: “The school hall was transformed back to the summer of 1958 and the excitement of seeing the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds created an atmosphere both Sandy and Danny would have been proud of.

“There were party games, food and a prize draw followed by an excellent disco provided free of charge by caretaker Ken Kilbride.”

Deborah Spraggon, a representative from Macmillan Sunderland Cancer Patient Support, who went along on the eventing to enjoy the fun, was thrilled with the amount raised.

She also attended a Year 7 school assembly to receive a cheque from head boy, Jacob Hewitt and his deputies, Matthew Rich and Alex Barnes.

Deborah said the money would be used to buy wigs, bandanas and complimentary treatments for patients in Sunderland, who are battling the disease.

She said: “Once again, St Aidan’s Catholic Academy have shown their outstanding generosity and kindness and I can’t wait to see next year’s theme.”