A SCHOOL in Chard is raising awareness about the extreme dangers of peanut allergies this week.

Holyrood Academy has written to parents to ask for support as a number of students have serious medical reactions, brought on by being close to such foods.

Year eight student Georgia Fursman is one such example, suffering from a severe peanut allergy, which can potentially bring on anaphylactic shocks.

Dad Phillip Fursman has been grateful to the school for all their support in raising awareness of his daughter’s condition.

Phillip said: “The school have been fantastic and it is nice to put everything out there so people can understand some of the issues we have.”

Holyrood Academy headteacher Maurice Hicks wrote to parents to explain that some students have a potentially life threatening condition, simply from being in the same room as an item of food containing nuts.

The letter urged parents to think carefully before providing packed lunches and snacks, which contain nuts, including peanut butter and other spreads.

Phillip added: “All our lives have been changed by this condition. If Georgia’s sat next to anyone who is eating nuts that can be enough to start a reaction.”

The Academy’s First Aid Assistant Jo Clark spoke of her work on a weekly basis to ensure the well being of around 20 students with allergies, seven of whom need to use an EpiPen.

Jo said: “Georgia can have a reaction even if she’s walking past someone who is eating them – it usually starts with a tingling in the lips and she has to take antihistamines.”