BY Daniel Harkins | December 12 | 
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Pupil gives back to hospital that helped her
A primary seven pupil has called on the musical abilities of her school friends to help her give back to the children’s hospital that helped her recover from a serious illness.
Sofia Vezza, a 10-year-old pupil at St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow, has been receiving treatment for leukaemia at Yorkhill Children’s Hospital for the past two years. Thankfully, the young Aloysian has responded well to treatment and now returns to Yorkhill every fortnight for precautionary check-ups and tests.
Sofia desperately wanted to give something back to the charity which had helped her so much, and her teachers and fellow pupils joined her in offering all the support they could by staging a charity concert for Yorkhill. Songs for Sofia saw a capacity crowd captivated by the musical talents of the schoolchildren, and raised an incredible sum of money for Yorkhill Children’s Charity.
Sofia performed a number of songs alongside her classmates at the concert and stole the show with a heartfelt speech.
The inspirational pupil thanked everyone for coming along to the concert and asked that they give generously to the Yorkhill Charity. Sofia’s words had the desired effect and the evening’s fundraising total reached an incredible £2743.
“I had great fun practicing for the concert with my friends and teachers,” Sofia said. “On the night I was very nervous about my speech; it turned out I enjoyed speaking. I was delighted with the money we raised.
Sofia’s mum Marie Therese said her family was overwhelmed with the effort and enthusiasm of the staff and pupils that helped with the charity night. “The staff in the Schiehalliion ward in Yorkhill are fantastic and have been a huge support to our family during this difficult time,” she said.
“We were so proud when Sofia suggested raising money for Yorkhill. Sofia enjoyed going to school in the ward. She would like to use the money to help provide a teacher all year round so children don’t fall behind with their school work.”
Frank McHugh, assistant head at St Aloysius Junior school, helped organise the concert.
“As a teacher, it’s always difficult to watch a child going through a difficult time, especially when the treatment has such obvious physical results,” he said. “But Sofia’s attitude throughout the whole episode would defy anyone to feel sorry for her. She literally pulled on her beanie hat and got on with it.
“It was typical of her and her close friends to suggest organising a charity night to give something back to Yorkhill… Sofia wouldn’t know how to feel sorry for herself if she tried!”
Mr McHugh said that Sofia has ‘amazing strength for someone so young’ and that ‘it wasn’t easy for her to stand up in a packed hall and talk about her experiences, but after what she has already overcome she knows how to conquer her fears.’
“Physically she’s no giant, but she is in our eyes,” he added.
As well as raising money for a worthwhile cause, the Songs for Sofia concert displayed the musical talent of the St Aloysius youngsters with performances coming from a number of soloists and the school’s choirs.
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