Children from Berry Pomeroy Primary School have been busy raising the profile of the Mare and Foal Sanctuary for a special exhibition all about the nature of charity.

More than 100 pupils from the tiny South Devon school spent a whole term, as part of their English and citizenship curriculum, finding out about the role of the south west’s largest horse and pony rescue charity.

They joined in with everything from designing posters and flyers to mucking out, helping with pony agility training and even taking a trade stand to local shops to raise money.

The children focused on the day to day running of the charity and its role in the local community and on Friday October 11 they held a special exhibition showcasing their hard work at the Sanctuary’s giant indoor arena at its Coombe Park stables, in front of proud parents and teachers.

Sanctuary head of education Dawn Neil said: “The work we do fits nicely into the school’s citizenship curriculum and this is a really exciting opportunity for the Sanctuary. The children love what we do, and they are going to be our supporters of the future."

Berry Pomeroy acting head Natalie Last said the children had really enjoyed the project, particularly working with the rescued ponies.

She said: “The children have absolutely loved their time at the Mare and Foal Sanctuary. They have been able to experience so much, from training with the lovely ponies to designing posters and asking for donations.

“We had no idea when we started this project how varied life is at the Sanctuary. Not only do they have loads of grooms to look after the animals but also five farms, six shops and a team of people raising money to keep the charity going.

“We’re hoping to teach the children a little bit about how they can give back to their local communities, not just take from them.”

Ten-year-old Will Life said he’d learnt loads over the last few weeks, but his favourite experience was, strangely, mucking out.

He said: “It was really good, and I loved getting to work with the horses, the grooming and picking up the poo. I’m excited about the project because we will get to come back and see the ponies again.”

Mum Kayleigh Widdicombe who has two children at the school said they had been talking about the project every evening when they came home.

She said: “It’s been such a fantastic project and they have learnt so much about charity and how important it is to support them. It’s a very important lesson.”

READ MORE: Quantock Pony Fair on the agenda for October