Murdered teacher’s name lives on in trust

10th March 2006, 12:00am
Gwen Mayor had been teaching at Dunblane primary for 10 years, when she was murdered along with 16 of her pupils in March, 1996.

Two other adults were injured. Eileen Harrild, gym teacher, instinctively raised her hands when Thomas Hamilton began firing. She was shot repeatedly through her arms.

Mary Blake, a classroom assistant, was also shot.

The Educational Institute of Scotland, Mrs Mayor’s union, launched a fund in her memory. The Gwen Mayor Trust was set up in February 1997. The aim of the trust is to help fund primary school projects connected with the arts, culture, music or sport. Donations come from teachers, trade unions, and individuals. In 1998, the first year that awards were made, a total of pound;10,000 was given away. This enabled Sidlaw View primary, in Dundee, to buy kilts for its country-dance club, and Middleton Park school, in Aberdeen, to pay for tuition for its samba band. For more information, contact the EIS on 0131 225 6244.