CHARITY supporters at a York school celebrated the end of term by throwing parties for friends and neighbours in the area.

The community action team at St Peter’s School is in charge of charitable, community and fundraising events, and hosted three events in the build-up to Christmas.

Among the charities to be involved was Lollipop, which supports children with hearing impairment and their families, who enjoyed a party with a bouncy castle, Santa’s grotto and crafts among other things, with St Peter’s pupils helping with the activities.

The volunteers also organised a Pirates and Princesses party for the Island charity, which offers support and mentoring to local young people. Pupils planned an afternoon of games, quizzes, face painting and festive food, and ran the show themselves.

The third party was the annual community get-together in the school’s new Memorial Hall where local residents were invited to tea and carol singing, with musical entertainment provided by the students.

Julie Bainbridge, head of Community Action, said: “The Community Action team got this term off to a flying start with the Big Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, and these three parties are a fitting finale to the term.

“The whole school community collected a large number of gifts for distribution to our guests at the parties and in the local community over the Christmas period, thanks to the generosity of parents, staff and friends.”

Volunteers also joined in with the Christmas Tree Festival at Clifton Methodist Church by decorating one of the church trees on display.