Aurigny charter saves the day for Year 1 pupils

The Year 1 pupils had arranged to fly to Guernsey for an outing to Magical Days in the Park via a Waves charter. Then the announcement came from Waves that it was suspending flights until September.

Year 1 teacher Sally Dawber contacted Aurigny commercial manager Clive Acton and he stepped in to arrange a charter with the States-owned airline to get the children, plus Mrs Dawber and assistants Rachel Gentle and Charlotte de Castro, to the special day out.

Magical Days in the Park is organised by Floral Guernsey for all the primary schools in the Bailiwick.

Mrs Dawber said the children had an unforgettable time.

‘On arrival we were met by our group leader and all the children had to put on their bunny ears and search the allotments for Peter Rabbit,’ she said.

‘There was so much excitement when we found him and even though Mr McGregor woke up and tried to chase us, we managed to get Peter out of the allotments safely.

‘We also got to take part in some outdoor cookery, where we made chocolate dough and cooked it on sticks over the fire. Our final activity was making stick boats, which we all floated on the makeshift pond.

‘The children said it was the best day ever.’

She said they were very grateful to Aurigny for saving the day.

‘Clive Acton has been such a fantastic help in liaising with myself and setting up a charter for us,’ she said.

‘If it hadn’t been for his help we wouldn’t have been able to offer the children this wonderful experience. It meant a few hectic days of phone calls back and forth between Clive and myself, but we were over the moon that we finally got to the event. We also need to say a huge thank you to Jim Phillips and the Trips Fund as well as the Rotary Club because without their kind donations we would not have been able to give the children this fantastic opportunity.’