A group of school & DMAT staff, and school parents & grandparents – Anna Devine, Anne-Marie Lethbridge, Derrick Brett, Vickie Norris, Gemma Garnsworthy, Marcia Horsley, Glen Hughes, Cam McMorrin, Dan Cooper – bravely took part in a sponsored abseil off Meldon viaduct on 30th April to raise money for the Friends of St James. Meldon viaduct is an iconic local landmark, that provided a drop of 35 metres!

All money raised will contribute towards purchasing play equipment and surfacing to create a new play area in the school grounds at St James CofE Primary School. This is a big project, but will help towards the goal of developing the school’s outside areas into more usable spaces for the children. This will be increasingly important as the school grows year on year.

The abseil was led by Adventure Okehampton’s Chief Instructor, Ian Stocker. Ian and Adventure Okehampton kindly offered to run this event for free, so all money raised will go directly to FOSJ. We would like to say a huge thank you to them!

Thank you very much for sponsoring those taking part and supporting our children. The more money we raise, the quicker we can realise our goal of a new play area!

Words from Vickie Norris, a member of the Friends of St James Group:

‘We did it!! The abseil is complete and everyone made it. Well done to the team for taking part and being brave. Some of us found it pretty nerve wracking, but we made it. Thank you to everyone who has supported us including coming along for moral support, sponsoring us, and of course Adventure Okehampton for running the event for us free of charge. We have already smashed our target amount, and are still receiving donations. The page will stay open for a while for those that wanted to sponsor us after they made sure we went through with it!!’

Victoria Norris is fundraising for Friends of St James Okehampton (justgiving.com)