Thousands of vouchers have been collected from Sainsbury’s as part of their annual Active Kids scheme.

Customers received vouchers for every £10 spent in store, with many then being passed to schools who could exchange them for much-needed equipment.

Pocklington Junior School collected more than any other in the region, stockpiling 18,353 of the vouchers.

St Martin’s Primary in Fangfoss were second with 13,698 and in third place was Wilberfoss Primary, who gathered in 12,755.

At Pocklington Juniors, they recently their equipment which included a portable basketball ring, cricket sets, basketballs, tennis balls, netballs and team bibs.

Sue Yeates from Pocklington Juniors explained: “Because we promote healthy eating and exercise we wanted the sporting gear because we thought it offered a wider range of equipment and it can be used by the children at lunchtime and playtime.

“Everybody is delighted and we’ll definitely be doing it again next year. It’s almost a challenge for the children as to who can bring in the most vouchers!

“A big thank you goes to the residents of Pocklington who we don’t know but have seen our banner outside and bring the vouchers in for us.”

Neil Bartram, store manager at Sainsbury’s in Pocklington, said: “Active Kids is a fantastic way for us to support schools and youth groups in our community.

“It;s a great achievement for Pocklington Juniors to be one of the best performing schools in the area.

2I think it’s going to make a huge difference to sports lessons and playtimes.”