Casual way to keep lifesavers in the air; MUSIC AND MOVIES AMONG INSPIRATIONS FOR PUPILS' CHARITY DAY.

Byline: EMMA STYCHE

HUNDREDS of pupils at schools in Coventry and Warwickshire threw uniforms aside for the Air Ambulance Dress Down Day.

Pupils at more than 20 schools each donated pounds 1 to the Air Ambulance fund for the privilege of wearing casual clothes yesterday.

Nearly 800 pupils took part at Woodway Park School and Community College, Wigston Road, Walsgrave, and more than 200 pupils participated at Christ the King Junior School, Westhill Road, Coundon, and Joseph Cash Primary School, in Owenford Road, Radford.

The Air Ambulance helicopter made an appearance at Woodway Park School as well as the Black Thunders from Mercia FM.

Woodway Park raised nearly pounds 800 and hope to reach pounds 1,000 with extra activities.

Teacher Chris Mackinder said the day had been worthwhile.

He said: "Woodway Park children are always keen to help charities, especially good causes such as the air ambulance. They really got into the spirit of things but were also very well-behaved."

The charity day at Woodway Park was wholly organised by the sixth formers, who did all the publicity and collected the money.

Pupil Alison McDuffie, 17, of Walsgrave said: "The sixth form don't ever wear uniform and the rest of the school does so we thought we'd dress up on the non-uniform day. We decided to dress as the Pink Ladies from Grease."

Various members of the sixth form went around collecting money. They were dressed as Michael Jackson, Ghostface from Scream, a vampire and a few lads dressed up as women.

Another Pink Lady, Lisa Maycock, 17, said: "We did it for the 25th anniversary of Grease. It was a good day and a lot of fun."

Air Ambulance paramedic Danny Hopkins says events such as the dress-down day were vital for the service.

He said: "Every penny we get comes from donations. Schools are especially important to us as a lot of our call outs involve children in road accidents."

The new Air Ambulance relies solely on charitable donations. The pounds 1 million it needs every year to keep going would be achieved if everyone in Coventry and Warwickshire each gave pounds 1.

The service is trying to get local councils to give people the option of donating an extra pounds 1 from their council tax bills to the scheme.

In the two weeks since the Air Ambulance began operating, it has been called out more than 70 times. Paramedic Danny Hopkins said the air ambulance service had proven itself indispensable.

He said: "We definitely save lives. We can reach a call-out in four or five minutes when the old air ambulance took 20 minutes."

CAPTION(S):

CLOTHES HOARSE: Pupils at Christ the King School (top) have plenty to shout about on their non-uniform day, with Lord Mayor Sucha Bains visiting. At Joseph Cash Primary School (above), pupils taking part include (from left) Mairu Jehangir, Klaudio Leku, Courtney Croot, Georgina Townsend, Mohammad Baba, Matthew Wilson, Jordan Jones, Andrea Stevenson and Amar Bahar. STRANGE GOINGS-ON: Woodway Park pupils hope to have raised pounds 1,000 from their dress-down day