The inhabitants of a genteel village are set for an invasion of 'designer' garden gnomes, writes SARAH BROWN.

Pupils at Cumnor Primary School have formed their own company, Little People Ltd, to make and market the gnomes. All the profits will go towards school funds and the class of ten and 11-year-olds have so far boasted a great rate of sales on the gnomes.

Class teacher Sandra Davison said: "They're classy gnomes. You wouldn't expect Cumnor people to want gnomes, but they're designer ones.

"Some are in the colours of football teams. We had a lovely batch of them in on Friday and they all sold in about 15 minutes. In that one afternoon we raised about £50."

She said the children were enjoying painting and varnishing the gnomes.

Mrs Davison added: "At the moment they're stunned by their success. The children came up with the idea.

"To think that gnomes have come to Cumnor."

She said the children had a momentary scare when they thought one of their precious gnomes had been stolen. They were up in arms about the damage this would do to their profits.

Emily Spicer, ten, said: "I think it's a really good idea and they're selling fast already, even though we've only just started making them.

"Now we're painting them with football strip colours. So far we've raised £52.24 but we've got to pay back for all the materials we bought."

She said she was enjoying the experience of forming a company and was learning a lot about business.

Jack Berketa, 11, ex- plained: "We've made about 20 gnomes. When we first started selling them we thought we might be in difficulty getting the money back, but we've sold a lot and got most of the money back already. We should make a good profit." In a separate fundraising bid, teachers at the school have put their own artistic creations on display and are inviting pupils to match the artwork to the teacher.

Pupils pay 50p to guess the creator of the 16 pieces of artwork, which include tapestries, clay work, and photography. There will also be a silent auction of the work.

Staff decided on the unusual fundraising activity because it is usually the children who put in all the work. Some children matched some of the art with its creator immediately, but other pieces were more difficult.

Story date: Monday 15 March

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