Northumberland primary school holds Bright Socks Day for CAFOD

Pupils from St Benet's in Biscop, Bedlington, Northumberland, held a 'Bright Socks' day to Brighten Up the lives of children and young people across the world as part of a Harvest fundraising campaign by the Catholic aid agency CAFOD.

Marie Wright, LRC Manager, said: "Our CAFOD Young Leaders did a great job at 'brightening up harvest' by encouraging staff and students to wear their brightest socks to represent their donations of 20p. They were able to draw attention to the needs of our neighbours in developing countries whilst creating an atmosphere of thanksgiving for our own blessings."

CAFOD is working with communities in the South American country of Bolivia, where in the Altiplano region, nearly 60% of the rural population are living below the poverty line. Unpredictable rains and frequent hailstorms are destroying the crops which the communities rely on.

The charity's partners are working to provide greenhouses to protect crops and train communities with new farming techniques to help them grow enough crops to feed their families. St. Benet's' fundraising will enable CAFOD's partners to continue working with communities like those in Bolivia.

CAFOD's representative in Biscop, David Cross, said: "Harvest fast days are a great way of bringing people together and raising an incredible amount of money to help others, so we'd like to say a huge thanks to the pupils at St. Benet's for their generosity.

"Harvest is traditionally a time of abundance, where communities come together and share food. In this time of abundance, it is important that we remember those who are without food and join together, putting our faith into action to help create a fairer world."

Donate to the Harvest Appeal at www.cafod.org.uk/harvest