A POPULAR councillor who left ‘such an impact’ on his community has managed to continue giving back after his death - as money bequeathed in his will to a primary school allowed every pupil to take part in an educational day trip.
Charles Wraith MBE, known to most as Charlie, was first elected to Barnsley Council in 1974 and continued to serve in a variety of roles in the council over 49 years, most notably as councillor for the Cudworth ward.
Last year he died at 80 years old, however one of his final wishes saw him continue to give back to his beloved community.
In July, the Chronicle revealed he had left ‘significant donations’ to several local organisations, including Cudworth History Group and Chewin’ t’Cud magazine, as well as several others across Barnsley, such as the hospice.
Now though, it has been revealed that he didn’t stop there, as a ‘generous and thoughtful’ gift to Cherrydale Primary School funded a full school trip across the borough last Friday.
Pupils went to Nostell, Cannon Hall, Brosworth Hall and Wentworth Castle to learn about the history of each location.
Headteacher Karen Brown told the Chronicle: “He very kindly left this money for us which he wanted to be spent on the children and their wellbeing.
“We’ve recently made a change in the school as we’ve moved to a house point system.
“Each pupil is put into a house that’s represented by a colour, with each also linked to a local landmark.
“So the money has allowed us to take the whole school out to visit them - because there were so many we had older children looking after little ones and everyone got involved.
“It was a great day and I’m so grateful the sun was shining down on us.”
Each house is made up of around 70 pupils from reception to year six who compete for points, with the winning team receiving an a reward every half term.
The donation was especially important now, as families are finding it hard to find the money needed to send their children on these kinds of trips.
“It meant we could do something without the families having to pay, which is a big deal at the minute considering the economic climate,” Karen added.
“There was a smile on everyone’s face throughout the day, including the staff - the memories we’ve made are fantastic.
“Charlie has had such an impact on the local community - his kindness provided us with this opportunity and we are very fortunate and grateful.”
