High school leaver Ewan Ellis puts on his own prom for fellow pupils
When his school failed to put on an official end-of-year prom, 16-year-old Ewan Ellis decided to take action and do it himself.
And as a result Ewan and more than 100 of his Welshpool High School classmates got together for a prom at The Venue in Oswestry to mark the end of their GCSEs. Ewan, 16, from Llandrinio, said: "The school has never held a prom for year 11 pupils and all year my friends had been saying to me to ask the teaching staff to see if they would change that this year.
"I asked and they were not willing to change their minds, even though year 12 and 13 leavers have a ball so a few people asked me to organise one myself, so I did."
The event took place last Friday and Ewan said: "It was a wonderful evening with 113 guests and they all looked fantastic. It was great to see everybody wearing their best clothes and with their hair done and having a great time. We had people arriving in lorries, on the back of quad bikes and in some classic or vintage cars too. Everybody had a fantastic time. I would like to thank everybody who attended and everyone who helped out."
Jim Toal, headteacher at Welshpool High School, said the school held a leavers' ball for year 12 and 13 pupils, but not a prom for year 11. Such end-of-year bashes have become a tradition which has grown in popularity in recent years. The prom craze is worth millions of pounds to the UK hotel industry as being a boost to dress shops, hair stylists and beauty parlours.
