One of Falmouth's lollipop ladies has been saved thanks to people power - at least for the next 12 months.

It was back in 2017 when funding was withdrawn for King Charles Primary School’s much loved lollipop lady Sue Johns.

Luckily for Sue, and the pupils she served, a generous private benefactor stepped in to cover her salary, allowing her to remain in post, whilst their child attended the school.

However their child left King Charles this summer, and it looked like Sue’s job - and the safety of the pupils - was once again in jeopardy.

Last autumn Sean Stratton, secretary of the school's parent teacher association (PTA), attended a meeting with Falmouth Town Council’s finance and general purposes committee.

He laid out their predicament to Councillor Bob O’Shea, in the hope that the council would come to their aid and pick up the £3,000 tab.

The committee sympathised with their plight but felt funding should ultimately be Cornwall Council’s responsibility.

READ NEXT:

Deeply unsatisfied, Sean decided to take matters into his own hands. A flurry of crowdfunding and leafleting ensued, and within days they had raised £110. Just a few weeks later this had grown to £765.

He began approaching local businesses about match funding - and then the pandemic hit.

It was looking all but impossible that the remaining capital could be raised in time, until a suggestion came from Cornwall Councillor Jayne Kirkham that he apply to Cornwall Council’s One Vision fund.

He did, and received a grant of £500. This, coupled with the money crowdfunded earlier in the year, meant that Cormac could renew Sue’s contract until summer 2021.

The story doesn’t end here, however. The money is only in place for the rest of the school year.

But after the success of this year’s crowdfunding and campaigning, Sean is hopeful that a group or someone will be able to raise further funds next year to secure Sue’s position all the way into autumn/winter 2021 and beyond.