Aston Clinton school raises over £1,000 for Turkey and Syria earthquake support causes

A school in Aston Clinton held a special cake sale to raise funds for victims of the devastating earthquake which wrecked Turkey and Syria.

Aston Clinton Primary School hosted an ‘Earth-Cake Sale’ where all proceeds went to the British Red Cross last month.

Upon watching the devastating pictures from both countries following an earthquake which reached 7.8 on the Richter scale, year six house captains at the school asked teachers if there was anything they could do to help.

Staff, parents, and children all brought cakes to school on 8 March to raise funds, while a Just Giving page was also set up allowing parents to donate to the cause separately online.

Teaching assistant, Mrs Dilek Teker Miller, who is from Turkey also baked traditional desserts from the country.

She said: “I am so proud of what the students and house captains were able to achieve, I want that to be recognised by the general public.”

Over the most recent school break Dilek visited Turkey and saw first-hand the devastating effects of the disaster.

Her sister lives in Antakya, which has been established as the city where the earthquake was most severe.

Dilek said: “All of her building is still standing, but it is not safe to go in. She lost her home just like many other people.

"I went to see her, as I wanted to see how she was doing face-to-face. All the technology is amazing, you can do Facetime, Zoom calls, it’s not the same as sitting with somebody opposite each other.

"She’s kind of a refugee in my parents’ city at the moment. Just like many earthquake victims she looks fine visually. But it’s a long recovery process for her wellbeing, I think.

"Imagine you are having a conversation with someone and suddenly they are fixated with the ceiling light, because they are trying to figure out if any movement is happening, is that light swaying? Because that is one of the first signs you are in an earthquake.”

Overall, £1,110 was raised by the Aylesbury Vale school.

Emergency management groups have recorded nearly 60,000 deaths across the two countries since the disaster.