A KIND-HEARTED internet community is planning a Christmas present for “Britain’s loneliest schoolboy”.
Ever since the older kids at Skerries Community School left for Lerwick Academy in August, Aron Anderson, who lives on Da Skerries on Shetland, is the only pupil at his school. The other children from Da Skerries aren’t just at a different school, they’re on a different island and only come home for the weekend.
Last week Aron told a reporter from The Telegraph that his best friends were his dog, some ducks and flocks of sheep. “It is quite weird sometimes – not having anyone else at school,” he said.
In a bid to help him feel a little less alone, some of the 20,000 people who subscribe to Reddit’s Scotland forum plan on sending the schoolboy as many Christmas cards as they possibly can.
Ross McMahon, from the forum, who’s organising the mass mail-out, told The National: “There are so few people living on the islands anymore, so it’s really easy to forget that it must surely get lonely there.”
“Aron had had brothers and sisters at the school, so it wasn’t so bad. But now that they’ve moved on to bigger and better things, he’s been left on his tod. It was a kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing to decide to send him some cards. I thought it was a safe and cool way to send some festive cheer.
“When I phoned up his school to let them know I was planning on doing it, they said they were sure it would put a smile on his face, and that’s what this time of year is all about.”
The closure of the the Skerries’ salmon farm has seen population of the archipelago shrink drastically.
Aron’s mother Denise said: “This is going to be his first winter as the only pupil so it’s hard to tell how it will be for him.
“I do feel sorry for Aron being all by himself at school – but he really is happy. Spending a lot of time with adults has made him quite grown-up, but he does enjoy trips to the mainland to meet other children.
“I just wish we could go back ten years. It would be lovely to have some more families here. And if any did decide to come, there is already a 10-year-old here for their children to play with.”
If you’d like to send Aron a card you can reach him at: Aron Anderson, Skerries School, Skerries, Shetland, ZE21 9AS.
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