CHEERS rang out as pupils from a North-East primary school watched a flag they’d made in honour of key workers was raised on their local village green.

Pupils at Hurworth Primary School painstakingly made a collection of swatches, which were stitched together to form the colourful flag, thanking the NHS, and promoting social distancing messages.

The youngsters were allowed out of school to see Hurworth’s ‘flag man’, John Redfern, hoist their labour of love to the top of the ceremonial pole on the village green.

Julia Walker, who helped co-ordinate the project alongside fellow teaching assistant Donna Williams, said: “The pupils have really enjoyed making the flag and they were so excited about having it flying on the village green.

“It has been very time-consuming to get it completed, but it looks lovely, and the children have done an amazing job. It’s an honour to be able to pay tribute to key workers in this way.”

When the lockdown began, with the children of key workers still coming into the school, the staff and pupils wanted to embark on projects to help their local community.

An appeal for ideas was made on the ‘Hurworth Live’ Facebook page and that has led to a flurry of activity in recent months.

School projects have included making cards to go inside NHS uniform bags; a rainbow banner for the school gates; VE Day banners; and pictures and crafts to brighten up food parcels.

While children of key workers worked on the flag at the school, the families of other pupils were able to collect packs so they could make contributions from home.  Year 6 pupils also joined in when they returned to school on June 15.

Liv Baker, who has been instrumental in establishing the Hurworth Covid-19 Support Group, said: “The children of the village have been a huge part of the community spirit that has come to the fore during the pandemic and this is another wonderful example.”