McConnell gives top marks to school fund-raiser

Jun 19 2008 by Lesley Brown, Hamilton Advertiser

FORMER First Minister Jack McConnell, MSP, visited Stonehouse Primary this week to speak to pupils about their Malawi fund-raising efforts.

Mr McConnell, who has been to Malawi four times, was in the school on Wednesday morning to address pupils from Stonehouse and Newfield primaries.

The schools have been working with Stonehouse Better World and have raised funds through their ‘Loose Change Can Make a Change’ campaign, where small change is collected in recycled water bottles.

Water bottles were chosen to emphasise the shortage of water in Malawi.

The youngsters have been running the fund-raiser for about four weeks and have collected a total of £2080.

Margaret McMeekin, team leader for Stonehouse Better World and a teacher at Stonehouse Primary, welcomed Mr McConnell at the assembly and told him about the work SBW have done so far on their Mulanje Mission in Malawi.

Pupils then told the MSP about their loose change campaign and explained why they got involved in the project.

They said that pictures and stories of the hardships suffered by children in Malawi had shocked them, and they wanted to do something to help.

Mr McConnell said: “I think it is truly fantastic that you are all thinking about other people, who live so far away, and trying to help because you know they have less than we do.

“The £2000 that you have raised will make such a difference to the community in Malawi.”

Margaret McMeekin said it was likely the money would be spent on supplies of maize and new wood-burning stoves for schools as part of the feeding programme.

During the question and answer session, one pupil asked Mr McConnell if fund-raising was the only way to help people in Malawi.

He suggested pupils produce a newsletter explaining how they had raised funds so that other schools could follow suit. He added: “The more people who know about problems in Malawi, the better our chances are of making a real difference to the country.”

He also suggested that pupils try to make friends with children in Malawi by writing letters, so they are able to learn more about each others’ culture.

Mr McConnell congratulated the children on the success of their project and said: “People in Malawi are so grateful to children like yourselves for what you are doing to help their communities.”