Staff joined pupils at Kymin View Primary School in a unique and special way to remember their much-loved lollipop lady Pam Willett who passed away last year, writes DES PUGH

Hi-vis jackets and bright colours were the order of the day in memory of Pam who for 33 years provided a safe crossing outside the schools in her trademark hi-vis jacket and lollipop sign.

She became known as ‘lollipop Pam’ and greeted generations of children across the road as they went to school and back with a smile and a wave, and sometimes a ‘high five’!

The children all dressed in bright colours in recognition of her uniform and the importance of being seen when by the roads; donating money towards the buying of a new bench to remember her by. The target for the collection has been set at £700 with donations coming to an amazing £153 already.

Emma Bryn, county councillor for Wyesham, told the Beacon that the plan is to install a bench at the bus shelter on the green just outside the school so that children will walk past it everyday, “it’s facing the school but actually something the community can use too” she said.

“Currently there isn’t a bench by the bus stop, it’s just a bus shelter with a ‘perch’: there’s nowhere for the elderly to sit,” she added.

It will be in the same street where Pam used to stand come rain or shine.

Monmouthshire County Council have costed the bench and its installation at £680.30 and it is hoped there will be enough left over to pay for a plaque and a tree.

Donations will be accepted at the school when it returns after the half-term and it is hope to raise the amount so the bench and tree can be in place this summer.