A primary school has pledged to help pay for the funeral of a former pupil who died tragically after coming into trouble in the River Tyne at the weekend.

Robert Hattersley, 13, of Crawcrook, sadly died following an incident in the river near Ovingham, in Northumberland, shortly before 4.15pm on Sunday (July 18).

Paying tribute to him, pupils at Emmaville Primary School in Crawcrook have selected flowers that will be sent to the Hattersley family on behalf of the school.

Read more: Robert Hattersley: Call for increased River Tyne safety

Writing to parents, headteacher Avril Armstrong said: “It is with a heavy heart that I send this letter to you all.

“I am sure you will have heard the tragic news about Robert Hattersley, a pupil at Thorp Academy and a past Emmaville pupil.

“Many of the children in Year 6 were friends with Robert, and today have selected flowers that will be sent to the Hattersley family on behalf of the school.”

Miss Armstrong said she had spoken to Karen Hailes, the headteacher at Thorp, and was given to believe that the Hattersley family were setting up a page to help with the cost of the funeral.

She wrote said: “At the Y6 leavers production taking place on Thursday evening, we will be having a raffle. Originally, it was our plan to ask the Y6 pupils to choose a charity that they would like the money for the raffle to go to."

She added, it has now been decided that the proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Hattersley family's fund for the funeral. 

She said: "Finally, at this very sad time, we send our love to Robert's family and we hope that they will receive comfort and support from those that live in this community."

Earlier today (July 18), Robert’s family paid tribute to the much-loved schoolboy and say he will be missed by everyone who knew him.

They said: “It is impossible to put into words the heartbreak we are feeling – Robert was so kind and loving. We are absolutely devastated by what has happened.

“He brought a smile to so many people’s faces and he will be missed by absolutely everyone who knew and loved him.

“We’d like to thank all the emergency services who worked so hard to try to find Robert, as well as everyone who has been in touch passing on their messages of condolences."

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054