A PEEBLES textile company has weaved together £10,000 to donate to the local secondary school following the blaze that destroyed the building last year.

News that Holland & Sherry were giving the significant amount to the school’s fire recovery fund was welcomed by the parent council last week.

A spokesperson said: “Once again we are overwhelmed by the generosity of our community.

"We are so very grateful to Holland & Sherry for this incredible amount.

“We have already funded a range of teaching resources and recently could support a series of school excursions to supplement student learning.

"These extra opportunities have been able to happen thanks to amazing donations like this.”

The Peeblesshire News contacted the company this week and spoke with merchandising director Sarah Clare.

She told us: “The news of the school burning down devastated so many of us and has affected so many people’s lives in so many different ways.

“It’s sad to say but until this day I don’t think any of us truly appreciated the importance of the school and the role it plays in the community.

“Routines have been broken, lives disrupted and more importantly our teachers and pupils have experienced a great loss.

"We therefore felt it our moral duty and obligation to support the school, its teachers, and its pupils at this devastating and unfortunate time.”

Head teacher Campbell Wilson is delighted with the donation ahead of the return to school next week.

He said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank our school community, once again, for the continued support during this difficult time .

"We needed resources very quickly after the fire and the donations received helped us ensure classroom learning could proceed whilst we were without the ability to access our normal supplies.

"This donation from Holland & Sherry, which is beyond generous, is so welcome and will help us as as we return to school next week.

"It will also facilitate purchasing new resources which will be above and beyond what we could ever have hoped for .”