A PAMPERING evening for parents at a Middlewich school was so popular that they had to queue for their treatments.

Middlewich beauty consultant Debra Gallimore, the woman behind a charity fundraising drive in the town, organised a beauty session at the school and raised £150 towards its bid for specialist school status in maths, science and IT.

Deputy headteacher Carol Pettinger-Harte said: "About 20 parents came along and we raised £150. We were just grateful to Debra as she gave her time for free, it was very generous of her.

"Everybody said how relaxing it was. It did get busy and people even had to queue for a while.

"One parent even said she was going to hold a party at home and donate 10 per cent of the funds to the school."

Debra, who was joined by three fellow consultants, said: "It was worthwhile and we have done our bit for the school. Mrs Pettinger-Harte gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers too for organising it."

The school needs to raise £50,000 for the bid - £30,000 of which must come from sponsorship from industry.

If the bid is successful the school will receive a capital grant of £100,000 in the first year and a recurrent grant for the next four years of £90,000.

Lack of sponsorship from local companies means that the bid is moving slower than staff would like, but the school is organising lots of events to raise the funds.

Last term a dancercise and non-uniform day raised a total of £2,500 and there are events organised for this term, including a litter pick and raffles.

Signed footballs from Manchester United, Crewe Alexander and an Everton photograph are up for grabs and tickets are on sale, for £1, from the school and during the folk and boat festival.

Mrs Pettinger-Harte added: "All these fundraising activities have been really good for the children and gives the school a real community feel. The parents and school are working closer together than ever."

For more details about the bid and fundraising events, ring the school on 01606 833170.

jdriscoll@guardiangrp.co.uk