TRELOAR’S School and College raised a celebratory £650 toward the cost of Christmas parties for students in the five residential houses on campus through its annual summer fete.

The fun event was officially opened by town mayor Dean Phillips and Treloar principal Martin Ingram, who shared the honours surrounded by staff, students and parents.

After the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, the mayor browsed the variety of stalls, many run by Treloar’s students who had been busy over the preceding weeks making and sourcing items to sell.

They included a textiles stand selling cushion covers, bags and bunting, a second-hand book stall, a doggy treats stand, and a knitted toy shop.

Thanks to the dry weather, many activities took place outside on the Piazza, with throwing games particularly popular. The primary school’s beanbag-throwing game created great excitement while the technology department’s ‘sponge the teacher’ game was as messy and entertaining as ever.

As organisers of the event, Treloar’s parent teacher association members were also out in force, selling homemade cakes and beautifully arranged flower pot creations. They also ran a jam jar tombola and a “guess the name of the hare” game.

The parent teacher association was delighted with the number who turned up to support the event and Lisa Vickers, the group’s chairman, said: “It was wonderful to see so many people from the local community coming along to support our fete and our students.

“Some people came to help, others came to participate in the games or to buy from the stalls, and everyone seemed to be having a fantastic time, which is what it’s all about.”