WHEN teacher Shirley Vallance retired from Hayward’s Primary School in Crediton she wanted to give money that was collected, back to the school.

There were lots of ideas as to what to spend the £500 on, but it was eventually decided that a Buddy Bench for the younger children would be the ideal solution.

Shirley explained: "If a child is feeling lonely and wants a friend to talk to they can go and sit on the Buddy Bench and someone will go and sit next to them.

"Members of staff keep an eye out and make sure this happens.

"I wanted something for the younger children as this is the age group I mostly worked with and a Buddy Bench seemed like the ideal solution.

"There is also a box with a lid next to the bench, which has books in, for anyone wanting a bit of quiet time. "