YSGOL Y Deri special school held a community get-together last weekend with a Big Lunch for guests and dignitaries from the local community.

Over thirty-five guests including Vale council mayor Janice Charles, local businesses, school governors and residents from a nearby elderly care home joined staff and pupils for a feast prepared by the school’s catering students.

The Great Get Together is a weekend celebrating community and was held on June 17-18.

It included The Big Lunch, the UK’s annual eat-together for neighbours, an idea from the Eden Project made possible by the National Lottery.

Big Lunch dishes shared with the community at Ysgol Y Deri included sausage rolls, rainbow salads, lamb koftas and a range of sweet treats.

The school caters for over 250 pupils, between the ages of three and nineteen, from around the Vale and Bridgend, with specialist needs including autistic spectrum disorders, as well as mental and physical disabilities.

Ysgol Y Deri assistant head teacher, Kerrie Pritchard, said: "We wanted to run an event for the whole community, not just the school.

"The Big Lunch creates a fantastic opportunity to share a slice of school life with our neighbours.

"The simple act of sharing food and a fun day helps everyone feel that they are part of the community.

"Our Big Lunch was a special and moving day."

Get-togethers and Big Lunches took place across Penarth over the weekend, including a welcome-home Big Lunch for local man, Richard Parry.

For the past three weeks, he has been on the Great Big Walk from Batley in Yorkshire to Penarth, raising awareness of loneliness and the importance of community, and encouraging people to share a Big Lunch.