Sweet show of support for shop

Children were cast under a spell by a magic show, followed by other activities for all the family including games, face painting and a raffle, raising a fantastic £838.

The day, organised by Claire Cowens and Alice Senior raised a magical sum of £838. Claire said: “It went a lot better than expected with so many children.”

She also thanked all the businesses who helped towards the day.

In Hebden Bridge, kind-hearted schoolchildren have been helping the much-loved sweet shop, Something Sweet at Bridge Gate , an after school Friday visit a treat for children dating back years. Something Sweet was devastated by the floods which swept through the town over Christmas.

Owner Gemma Leedham, also recently lost her husband, Bob, who was killed in a motorbike accident whilst on holiday, and was a popular figure within the community.

Children from several local schools have set up a pop-up sweet shop on Fridays to raise money for Something Sweet in the aftermath of the floods, so far raising upwards of £200 to help towards restoring the much-loved shop, with each of them taking it in turns to bag up the sweets, sticker them, and play shop keeper.

People have rallied round to help support the children: Mark Coup, current owner of the Independent Living shop, offered up his empty unit which was also damaged in the floods for the children to use, and the sweets themselves were donated by local companies – Dobsons, Maxons and Stockley’s. Retirement housebuilder McCarthy and Stone, who named its Victoria Road, Hebden Bridge, development Leedham Court as a tribute to Mr Leedham, has donated £200 towards repairs.

Sarah Myers, a parent of one of the children, said: “We wanted to be able to show our support to Gemma after the tough time she has had.

“The children have done all the marketing themselves and it’s brought a bit of normality back for them and they’ve really enjoyed the buzz of it and sorting through all the sweets – a few of them did disappear along the way though!”