WELL over 100 cakes and buns have been made and sold at Haslingden High School to raise money for Facial Palsy Awareness Week.
The charity’s national initiative was the brainchild of Headteacher Mark Jackson’s Personal Assistant Kay Turner who has had Bell’s Palsy twice, first in 2003, which affected her left side, and then in 2012 it affected her right side.
She said: “It is a fairly new charity, having only started in 2012 and Facial Palsy is something that not a lot of people know about.
“Eighty per cent of people who get it recover fully within the first three months, 20 per cent don’t and five per cent never recover and don’t even get partial recovery.
“Quite often they don’t get treatment or it is considered cosmetic.”
Mrs Turner has now written her own story on the Facial Palsy UK website.
She began fundraising for the charity at school three years ago and now the charity’s deputy chief executive officer Karen Johnson has taken her initiative and made it a national event.
Mrs Turner made nine Victoria Sponges, six chocolate cakes, 80 buns and a lemon drizzle cake.
She also received donations from her daughter Gemma, teaching assistant Hazel Ingrouille and her mother Linda Ogden and student services receptionist Jo Shepherd.
Four Prefects also helped with the fundraising: 16-year-olds Seth Deal, Beth MacDonald and James Turner and Xander Davidson, 15.
Mrs Turner added: “The week is called #sharemyhappy because when you have Facial Palsy your face does not always show that you are happy, it is about the support that you get from friends and family and without it this is a difficult thing to get through.”
In 2015, Mrs Turner was given a trophy by the charity in recognition of her raising £13,400 by organising a music festival which also increased awareness of Facial Palsy.