Pictured above:  The Mount and St Paul's school pupils who have organised an appeal for  bags being to be  sent to refugees  (l-r Back ) Mount School pupils , Annabelle Hill, Ria Behakanira and Celia Edwards (front l-r) St paul’s pupils, Finlay Stephenson and Callum Steph

CHILDREN from across York are sending hundreds of relief supplies they have collected to help refugee families in Greece.

Almost 400 ‘Lifebags’ have been collected by pupils at The Mount, Fulford, Millthorpe, Bootham and St Paul’s RC primary schools.

Each contains food, clothing, medical supplies, a whistle, writing materials and some form of entertainment, such as a small toy.

The city-wide effort began in the summer term when Annabelle Hill and her friends from The Mount School met students from Greece at an international PeaceJam student leadership conference in Monaco.

The PeaceJam Foundation works with Nobel Peace Laureates to inspire young people to take actions for peace in their communities.

The pupils from PeaceJam Greece told the Mount girls about lone child refugees and the desperate need to give help to these children who are at a high risk of child trafficking; a Lifebag is vital in their first few days after arrival.

Annabelle and her friends decided to help. They persuaded students and staff at The Mount to adopt Lifebag as one of the school’s annual charities.

They also contacted other schools in the York Independent State School Partnership (ISSP) and the local area to ask them for help. Fulford School donated 178 bags and students from Millthorpe, Bootham and St Paul’s schools also collected over 200 bags.

York Press:

Valerie McNulty, modern languages teacher at Millthorpe said the project inspired everyone as it was a way to make a difference for child refugees.

Paul Walker, assistant head at Fulford, said Annabelle was so persuasive that their school also adopted Lifebag as its Christmas Charity Appeal.

Annabelle had also addressed community groups such as Rotary York and Quakers in Yorkshire, whose Ilkley Meeting House kindly visited The Mount to contribute additional bags.

Annabelle said: “It was evident that the refugee crisis needed someone to do something.

“Then I realised I and someone and I could do something. It took a lot of time and effort to set up LifeBag. I expected to compile fifty LifeBags and we currently have over 300. It exceeded all my expectations and I really appreciate all the support LifeBag has received from across York.”

York Press:

Students at the American Farm School in Greece are on stand-by ready to receive all the Lifebags and deliver them by hand to refugee children.

Ellen Froustis of PeaceJam Greece said: “These bags are arriving at a much needed time. Thank you so much for your support.”

Mount principal, Adrienne Richmond, said: “We are very proud of the way Annabelle and her friends have led and organised this project. The Mount has been recognised this year as a PeaceJam School of Excellence.

"PeaceJam Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have inspired our students to make connections across York and Europe to make a difference to children who really need our help.”