Teacher doused with baked beans to aid charity

Pupils at a Harrogate junior school have got their own back on one of their teachers by drenching her with tins of cold baked beans, soup and custard.

This wasn’t a school boy prank but an organised fundraising event by Ashville Junior School teacher, Shona Gladstone, who is aiming to raise in excess of £2,000 for The Cure Parkinson’s Trust.

For more than 25 minutes, Shona sat in a bath in the school playground while pupils poured an array of tinned food over her, after paying £1 for the privilege.

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This stunt alone secured a total of £331, which has taken her to within £200 of her £2,000 target.

In July, Shona will be undertaking a sponsored bicycle ride from London to Paris, again in aid of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust.

Shona said: “Recently my lovely mum was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, so I’ve chosen this charity to help fund research and, ultimately, hopefully find a cure for this condition.

“I would like to thank everyone who has sponsored me so far. Whilst the baked bean bath was absolutely awful, and I was incredibly cold, it was worth every penny.

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“The best bit about it was getting into a lovely hot shower once all the children had finished tipping the tins of cold food over me.”

She added: “In July I’ll be cycling 480km over four days to get me from London to Paris for the charity.”

Tom Isaacs, co-founder of The Cure Parkinson’s Trust, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Shona.

“Fundraising support is absolutely critical for the charity to enable us to achieve our goal. We aim to cure Parkinson’s and the only way we will do this is through the help of all our supporters - it’s as simple as that.”

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Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder which affects over 127,000 people in the UK alone and one person in twenty with Parkinson’s is under the age of 40.

It is characterised by the presence of tremors, stiffness, slowness of movement, and balance problems, but there are numerous other symptoms connected with the condition.

The treatment of Parkinson’s disease has not changed significantly in the past 50 years.

Those wishing to support Shona’s fund raising activities by making a donation are asked to do so by visiting her Just Giving page, www.justgiving.com/ShonaGladstone1