SCHOOLS, friends and businesses came up with a range of fund-raising ideas to support Children in Need in the area.

Among the most unusual must have been at a care home in Monmouth where two members of staff sat in a bath of gravy.

Linda Shaw and Terri Yemm spent two hours in the bath outside The Parade home in a bath of cold gravy despite the wind and the rain, raising £602.

Linda joked: “We decided on gravy rather than baked beans because it was cheaper.”

Owner Maureen Rayner, who brought warming hot water bottles, said: “It’s brilliant they are prepared to sit in gravy on a cold day for two hours.

“They are a good bunch of caring staff.”

Lea Church of England Primary School, near Ross-on-Wye, broke its previous record by raising £300.

The school held a cakes and bakes sale with children and staff dressing as real-life heroes such as soldiers and doctors.

Pupils at the Dean Academy in Lydney raised around £600 by dressing up as their favourite superheroes.

Superheroes were also the theme at the Heart of the Forest special school near Coleford where £152 was raised.

The Winds of Time group, which organises charity events in Chepstow and Caldicot, raised £287 from three events.

They were at the Chepstow community fireworks, organised by Chepstow Round Table, a fun day at the Severn Bridge Social Club in Bulwark, and a street collection in Caldicot.

Staff at Forest law firm Gwyn James went back to the 70s for their day of fund-raising.