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Julie Warne, Headteacher, The City School, Sheffield, Nov 2006 Daniel was a student at The City School and left five years ago. He was a lively popular student with staff and students and we were devastated when we heard of Daniel's death. When Mrs Anderson spoke to me about her campaign it was only natural that we should become involved. Since 2003 Mrs Anderson has been delivering workshops to all our students during PSHE lessons on the dangers of body piercings. Her mission is to prevent other young people from dying in the same tragic circumstances as Dan. Mrs Anderson and her family participated in our annual Battle of the Bands competition in May this year and organised a raffle with prizes which included a guitar signed by known celebrities. £383.00 was raised by staff and students on the evening. Altogether the Dan Aid campaign has raised £1,476.93 so far. The money has been donated to the Take Heart Appeal, a registered charity that supports patients and their families who are recieving treatment at the Yorkshire Heart Centre, situated at Leeds General Infirmary. Daniel spent considerable time there when he was ill and his family made use of the centre during that time. Mr Colin Pullan, MBE Chairman and Mr Alec Mc Lean, Treasurer of Take Heart came into school on Wednesday 22nd November 2006 to present awards to Mrs Anderson and the school. Many of our staff and students have signed a petition, organised by the Anderson family, requesting the government to introduce laws to regulate the Body Piercing Industry. The Anderson family will present this to the Prime Minister when they have reached 5,000 signatures. William and George, Dan's brothers, also attend The City School. Further information can be found on The City School website: www.city.sheffield.sch.uk |
The Dan Aid Campaign & The City School Daniel was a student at our school for five years. He was popular with both staff and students as was his older brother, Chris. We also have two younger brothers in school and I gather there are more on the way!! Naturally we were saddened and shocked to hear about Daniel’s death-our students do meana lot to us despite what people may think! When Christina approached the school with her idea of a workshop to raise awareness about the dangers of body piercing we were more than happy to incorporate it into our schemes of work. It was clear that health care was going to be a vital element PSHE and as body piercing was becoming ever more fashionable, this seemed to be the right time to launch the project. It was also our way of remembering Daniel. In the first year Christina presented the workshop to all 1,500 students in the school-quite a task. Now it is delivered to Y7 students as part of a Healthy Lifestyle topic. Christina begins by telling the students about Daniel-about how he was an ordinary boy with a love of life and a dream to make a career in the music business. One Friday afternoon, after a day at Norton College, he and his girlfriend Naomi decided to go into town and have a piercing. Like thousands of other young people, they were unaware of the risks they were talking and both felt unwell soon afterwards. Christina goes on to tell how Daniel's illness quickly progressed and became a lot more serious. Dan died several weeks later from septicaemia. Despite the sensitivity of the subject the workshop is interesting and fun, with students having plenty of opportunity to ask questions and see pictures of Daniel and Naomi looking happy and healthy. They watch an information DVD and Christina has sometimes time permitting shared her own short film of Daniel playing guitar in his own band with us. Students are given information about the website and also a fact sheet to take home to spread the word to their parents and other brothers and sisters who might be thinking about a body piercing. Most students are keen to add their signatures to the campaign petition, some taking them home to muster up support from their families. Every year we have a Battle of the Bands competition where raffle tickets are sold in aid of Dan Aid who raise money for the Take Heart charity. Two lucky students won a guitar both last year and this year, donated by Sound Control in respect of Dan Aid. All our students are now fully aware of the risks involved in body piercing and we are grateful to Christina and her team for the effort they have put into our school. Jill Harrison , The City School A Specialist Business & Enterprise College Sheffield |
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| We have been delivering workshops in many secondary schools across Sheffield now for well over four years, during that time we have established ourselves as being of vital importace to the education and well being of our young citizens. Many of the schools we work with are keen to see the workshop being made a compulsary part of the PSHE ( Personal, Social & Health Education) programme. Here are some of the comments we have recieved from many of the PSHE teachers in support of our important and ongoing work. |
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PSHE Lessons Christina has spoken to all students at The City School, Sheffield,about the risks involved in body piercing. These talks have taken place during PSHE lessons, when students have listened to the story of what happened to Daniel. They have been given the opportunity to ask questions and many interesting discussions have taken place. Very few students and staff were aware that there are no regulations to control body piercing. The school has been happy to support Dan Aid by signing the petition, by selling raffle tickets and by naming our school trophy, for the best school band, after Daniel. We wish the campaign all the best in the future. The City School A Specialist Business & Enterprise College www.thecityschool.plus.com |
Dan Aid & Handsworth Grange School Body Piercing Workshops During the year I have worked with Christina Anderson to introduce the subject of Body Piercing with our Year 11 pupils. The programme formed part of a Health Module delivered through the PSHE programme. .Christina has followed up her visits with a corridor workshop at lunchtime for all pupils to engage in. This lead to our involvement in a poster competition to support the work being done by the Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board young peoples team in producing a Sheffield leaflet to make all young people aware of the dangers of piercings and what to look for in a safe practice piercing parlour. Christina's involvement in the school with her workshops has really highlighted the subject of the lack of regulations within this industry, and were keen to sign up to the campaign to raise the profile of this. I readily endorse the work of Dan Aid and hope that by using the workshops and support packs of materials, leaflets and websites, that young the young people of Sheffield make informed choices that are right for them. Denise Powell, PSHE Co-Ordinator Handsworth Grange School A Specialist Sports College www.hgsonline.org.uk |
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Marissa Palmer - Health Advisor Chaucer School - 22nd May 2006 I would like to thank Christina for all her work at Chaucer Secondary School Sheffield over the past couple of years or so. We have experienced PHSE lessons to different year groups and corridor workshops throughout. The students have found the story of Dan very saddening and it has touched some very deeply. The sessions have always been very valuable and the lessons have made a great impact on their decision making. The students have felt encouraged and priveleged to be a part in such an important campaign. They have enthusiastically completed the petition to get the Laws in place to protect young people and others, their campaign lists get longer and longer! Thanks again Marissa Chaucer Business & Enterprise College |
"CALLING ALL TEACHERS" "I have been involved with thousands of hours of PSHE lessons in my career - but Christina Anderson's session must rank among the best. The engagement she gets from the students is fantastic and the range of emotions encountered is astonishing. Christina is a very special person who gives a balanced view of the issues around Dan's death and I encourage you to invite her into your school." Ken Dunn - Assistant Headteacher The City School - 28th March 2006 |
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Dan Aid Workshops Christina came to Waltheof School to deliver workshops to our year 7 students. Barbara Last, the head of year said, "The presentation hits home to all ages of students and adults. The children were spellbound. It had real impact and relevance for them. I believe that learning about the dangers of piercing is very relevant to our young people and I would like to see Christina's workshop becoming a permanent addition to our Year 7 PSHE programme". Frank Smith July 21st, 2006 Sheffield Park Academy Specialism in Business & Enterprise www.sheffieldpark-academy.org |
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Dan Aid in Handsworth Grange School Special thanks go to Christina for her input into the Year 11 PSHE programme this year. The pupils responded well to the workshops and were keen to support Christina with her petition to get legislation in place to regulate body piercing. They were amazed that this was not already in place! Corridor workshops at lunchtime, supported by year 11 pupils again engaged the whole school in getting signatures on the petition. Dan Aid was chosen by the pupils as one of the two charities they wished to raise money for in their enterprise simulation before Christmas. The Autumn Challenge Event was a great success and the pupils were proud to hand over a cheque to Christina for £400. (Not bad going in two hours of seling on the day) Pupils have also had the opportunity to help support the work of Dan Aid in producing a Sheffied leaflet on Body Piercing through an art work project. From just a casual encounter and a brief chat about how we were going to promote the work of Dan Aid, the project has had real impact on the school. I am very grateful to Christina for all her hard work and wish her success in the future with the Teachers Resource Pack. Denise Powell PSHE Co-ordinator Handsworth Grange School A Speciaist Sports College www.hgsonline.org.uk |
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FIRST DAN AID BODY PIERCING WORKSHOP "To Christina and Suzanna...just a massive thank you for your great work with the year 10 students at Chaucer school ... considering it was your first ''gig'' (Dan would have been proud of you)...you did an excellent job ... the students found the website really informative and made them all really think about the dangers of body piercing and put together some great pieces of work regarding body piercing and the dangers ... once again ... a massive thank you ... your doing a great job" Tim - Chaucer School November 2003 |
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| We have comments, from the children themselves on our Workshop pages, you can also check out the Dan Aid Calendar and find out about our Take Heart, Fund-Raising & BOTB Events by just clicking on the relevant links below. |
Super Learning Day Hinde House School - 16th November 2007 Christina from Dan Aid, Thank you for the sessions on "Body Piercing Awareness" which you provided for our Health Day on Friday. The children really enjoyed the break from their routine and I am sure that they learned a lot of new things throughout the day. I hope that you will be able to return to Hinde House in the future when we have another Health Day or Super Learning Day. Thank you once more. Kath Iredale Year 8 Leader |
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