A Whitehaven headteacher has spoken of his pride and gratitude for the support from the wider community after a Crowdfunder was set up to raise funds following an attempted break in.

St James' C of E Infants School has suffered an attempted break in and vandalism in recent weeks which resulted in a number of the school's windows being broken, leaving damage in the region of £1k to £1.5k.

Paul Seager, who set up the Crowdfunder initiative, stated on the dedicated page: "The replacement of these windows, will come at an expense to the school. This money would otherwise be used for the education of their children. Not only will the windows need replaced but a part of the children's grassed play area cannot be used due to small shards of glass and may have to be replaced and the recent events have left the school considering installing CCTV.

"The page has been set up so we can get together and help support the school with these repairs so their money can be used as intended, on their children."

Headteacher Michael Craig stated: "When it happened we were bitterly disappointed, we were called out at 11pm at night and it looked like there had been an attempted break in. Whoever had done it had quickly went away."

Mr Craig spoke of his gratitude for the support: "Our school's motto is ‘Choose the right path’ and, for me, this case shows that out of an adverse situation, kindness can always shine through.

"I’ve always felt that St James’ is a family, and the commitment of the community to ensuring we've been supported in this time just shows how true that is. Amazingly, it’s not just been parents, it's been grandparents and the wider community."

He added: "We’ve had a grandparent who runs a window glazing firm who is looking to help out. We want to be able to spend the money on the children, and this generosity is allowing for that again.

"It just shows the community spirit that’s behind the school. Hopefully it’s the last of the vandalism. Police have increased patrols to keep an eye on the area. It’s very sad, but from that darkness, things have come full circle."

You can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/st-james-infants?fbclid=IwAR1WiVvTvs2KeEnV7CsZu0eqoHm4szUI7Vvyvg8Pzf3ylnipaiVkGJ-x6lo