A CHRISTMAS extravaganza was the treat for children at an Oldbury special school thanks to staff from local branches of The Co-op.

The Meadows’ students celebrated the festive period with a festive bouncy castle, a bucking reindeer, icy fruit drinks, a festive cinema, donkeys, hot chocolates, a snow machine and were even visited by very special guests including Olaf the snowman and Father Christmas –who gave a present to every child in the school.

Staff at The Co-op have been raising money over the past few weeks to give the children at the special school a very festive day, with managers from the local stores volunteering to help out on the day.

Becki Bolton, learning facilitator from The Co-op, said: “My nephew attends the school so we wanted to give the children at The Meadows an extra special day filled with lots of Christmas fun.

“All the staff who volunteered had such a lovely time and it was very touching to see how much the children enjoyed the day.”

Each Co-op store in the region raised money through various ways, such as collection buckets, raffles and cake sales.

Staff at the school also dressed up for the day, including Joanna Cliffe, headteacher, who came dressed as a penguin.

She said: “We are so delighted the staff from Co-op chose to give the school both their time and donations. The children had an absolutely fantastic day.

“I want to thank them for their generosity and let everyone involved know that it meant such a lot to the students. It certainly was a very memorable day I'm sure the staff and children will talk about it for many years to come.”