A BUDDY bench has now landed at Romsey Abbey C of E Primary School, Church Lane, in a bid to help lonely children during playtime.

Before lockdown, five Year 5 girls decided they wanted to kick-start a buddy club and raise money for the bench.

Acting deputy headteacher, Mark Harris, said: "We have a very friendly, supportive school but the girls had noticed that a few children sometimes found it hard to find people to play with at playtimes.

"The Buddy Bus Stop idea was established as a friendly place where children could go when they couldn't find someone to play with. They also wanted to create a friendly team that could help support pupils with finding friends and joining in games.

"They wanted the buddy team to be a group that children are happy talking to and can trust to help them.”

Hampshire Chronicle:

"The girls organised, publicised and ran a cake sale in school raising an initial £35 for this project. Prior to this they led an assembly on the idea and explained to the whole school what they were raising money for."

He added: "They then wrote a letter to the Round Table of Romsey explaining the project and asking if they could present their ideas to the members.

"The girls were delighted to find out that the Round Table of Romsey was so impressed with their ideas and efforts that they agreed to give £250 pounds to the project.

"The colourful Buddy Bus Stop bench has now been purchased and will be ready for action once classes can share the playground all together again.

"It is fantastic to see these wonderful pupils taking on leadership responsibilities in school so that it becomes an even friendlier and supportive community."

Hampshire Chronicle:

When asked about their achievement, the girls said: “We want everyone in the school to be happy, have someone to play with and we could all see that making friends is something that children can find really hard to do and something they can get quite worried about.

"We are really looking forward to getting the Buddy Club started and seeing what a difference it makes.

"We are proud of how we have worked as a team and what we have achieved together."