MORE than 150 disabled children from the region were smiling more broadly this Easter thanks to the response to a public appeal.
Hundreds of people responded within hours of Kyle Travel Agents, in Barnard Castle, putting out a request for Easter egg donations for the Smile For A Child charity last week.
Carol Hunter from Kyle Travelsaid: “It has we have had kids coming in with Easter eggs, we have had people bring them to our houses.
“For us it has just been phenomenal.
“We thought if we got 30 people it would be phenomenal.
“We have had eggs from customers, friends, family and complete strangers. We are extremely overwhelmed and appreciative.”
Chris Read, from Smile For A Child, which raises cash to help disabled youngsters get involved in sport, said the Easter eggs would go to youngsters “all over the local area” who have previously had contact with the charity.
He added: “The response has been absolutely amazing.
“The people of Teesdale are incredible.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
