Schools in Wellington joined together at Christmas to support Fore Street butcher Tim Potter in providing 80 families with a Christmas dinner.

At a meeting before Christmas the headteachers of Court Fields, Beech Grove, Rockwell Green, St John’s, Wellesley Park, IKB, West Buckland, Langford Budville, Sampford Arundel and Stawley met to discuss concerns over vulnerable families during the Christmas period.

Olly Priestley, chairman of the headteachers’ group, said: “Christmas should be a wonderful time for all families and we wanted to ensure this was the case for all our families in the Wellington area. We have been lucky in Wellington that Tim Potter and his team have been providing for so many families during the year, so we wanted to raise money to work with him to provide Christmas dinners and to continue meat boxes into the new year.”

All of the schools set about fundraising and coined in more than £3,000 to support the project and future Potter boxes.

“Tim and his team have been wonderful during this pandemic and helped so many families,” Olly added. “We are truly grateful for the kindness he has shown at such a challenging time. The Christmas dinners he put together were superb. I would also like to thank Mick Vaughan and his team at Asda who donated generously and helped the schools with the project.”

Many Tim Potter customers have also made considerable donations to support the project and meat boxes.

Tim said: “I would like to thank my loyal customers for their generosity throughout the whole year, helping my team provide the boxes. My sponsors The Mount Vets’, Heywood Estates and Chris Rudd and his team have also donated this Christmas, which we are hugely thankful for.”

The boxes were put together and delivered by members of staff from the schools in time for Christmas Day.

Olly said: “It was lovely to see the community come together in the face of adversity.

£This spirit will be needed even more than ever as we head into 2021.”