Headteach Geoff Barton and pupils from King Edward VI School in Bury present a cheque, to support the Rwanda appeal, to the Mayor of St Edmundsbury, Tim Marks, at the West Suffolk Athletics Arena at Bury Leisure Centre.

STUDENTS at a west Suffolk school have raised thousands of pounds to help Rwandan children play more sport in school.

King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds has presented £5,000 to the mayor of St Edmundsbury, Tim Marks, on behalf of the St Edmundsbury Steering Group for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The steering group launched the Sport for Rwanda appeal last year with the aim of raising £80,000 to leave a lasting legacy in 140 schools in the country by giving them sports equipment, a place to store it and educational materials to help teachers.

The appeal will give more than 100,000 schoolchildren the ability to take part in sport. To date more than £11,000 has been raised.

King Edward VI School has held fundraising activities over the last two years, including staging Sport for Rwanda activity festivals in the summers of 2010 and 2011. These involved every student taking part all day in ‘It’s A Knockout’-style competitions with other activities including cheerleading, sponging the teachers and music and dance.

The school also hosted a Rwanda Week which explored key issues such as genocide, conflict resolution and human rights through a poetry showcase, film screenings and citizenship lessons.

Rob Walden, assistant headteacher at King Edward VI School, said: “Sport for Rwanda will bring training, support and equipment straight to the heart of Rwandan schools and help create an education legacy for many years to come. We’re proud to be a part of it!”

Mr Marks said: “This is a fantastic achievement by all the students and staff at King Edward VI School and we thank them for all their hard work and support of the project and Sport For Rwanda.”

King Edward VI School’s third Sport For Rwanda Festival takes place on July 12, just days before the start of the Games.

The West Suffolk Athletics Arena at Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre will host the Rwandan Olympic and Paralympic teams at a pre-games training camp as they prepare for London 2012 in July and August.

For more information on Sport For Rwanda visit www.sportforrwanda.org. To donate visit www.justgiving.com/teams/Sport-for-Rwanda