Leg waxing, a head shave and an Easter fair helped a west Cumbrian primary school raise money for a pupil recently diagnosed with diabetes.

Distington Community School’s students and teachers have pulled together to support nine-year-old Derren Lynch, who found out he had type one diabetes in January, collecting over £600.

The fundraiser, which saw teachers undergo hair waxing and shaving, was to help Derren get a new monitor to check his blood glucose level.

“We were fundraising for a pupil who has just been diagnosed with diabetes, to make his life easier by getting a better monitor,” said headteacher Angela Jones.

“He will be able to monitor his blood levels with an app on a phone instead of needing to prick his finger, so his mam will be able to quickly check.”

“We decided to raise the start-up costs, we normally have an Easter fair to raise money for the school. We’ve raised £1,200 overall and £600 for the monitor, and there is still some forms to come in.

“We wanted to do something a bit different and hoped parents would engage with it. The teachers agreed to be shaved and I don’t think it was as bad as they thought!

“It was really nice that staff members were willing to do it, and Derren’s parents sent a thank you card with a nice message in which made it worthwhile.”

The monitor will reduce the time taken to check Derren’s blood glucose levels and make it easier for him to play sport.

Derren’s mum Ann Lynch said: “He’s doing really well, he was very ill at the time but he’s picked up and he’s getting to grips with it.

“We had been talking about getting the system, which isn’t available on the NHS, and Derren had been telling his teacher about it.

“We were overwhelmed, I couldn’t believe they’d do that for him. The fair was really good, he had a great day and enjoyed waxing his teacher.”