Bolton School pupils raise thousands for Anastasia Days

Anastasia Costello tragically died due to complications that arose following contracting Covid in December 2021.

In her memory, her parents set up the charity Anastasia Days, which seeks to give the opportunity to children between the ages of six and 16 and their families to have a day out and make memories, particularly those who have suffered illness, abuse, bereavement, or other significant trauma.

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Bolton School announced in November last year that it had chosen to raise money for the charity and it has surpassed the £1,000 target that was set.

Year 10 pupils selling sweets to raise money for Anastasia Days (Image: Bolton School)

Young people from the girl’s division have collected a £3,743.09 from three different money raising efforts.

The annual Christmas Post – which raised £2,121.93 - sees girls in Year 10 put on a show to encourage the rest of the school to visit their stalls to buy sweets and treats, post Christmas cards, and order telegrams or sing-a-grams.

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A school spokesperson said: “The Year 10 forms had created individual short films promoting their stalls which were shown to the whole school in a special Christmas Post assembly.

Year 10 pupils at the Christmas Post (Image: Bolton School)

“Each film was packed with pop culture references, including TikTok trends, the World Cup, and a host of television programmes from ‘The Great British Bake Off’ and ‘I’m A Celebrity’ to ‘Googlebox’.

“The girls dressed up as all kinds of famous faces and the Great Hall was filled with peals of laughter as caricatures of Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock were seen rubbing shoulders with Gemma Collins, Ant and Dec, Dick and Dom, Harry Styles, The Rock – and of course Santa and his elves and reindeer.”

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This was supplemented by donations made during the Girls’ Division’s annual Christmas Jumper Day – £1,046.35 – and a collection at the Ceremony of Carols which added a further £574.81 to the pot.

Christmas jumper day at the Girls' Division (Image: Bolton School)

Anastasia’s father, Wayne Costello, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity shown by Anastasia’s schoolmates and the staff at Bolton School.

“We were delighted to hear that Anastasia Days was selected as the annual Christmas Post Charity and the fundraising activities have been phenomenal.”

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