TRADERS welcomed special needs and unprivileged children to Barry Island for what was an enjoyable day out.

The annual event, which is organised by Variety, the Children's Charity, is held for school children who are unprivileged or have special needs from across South Wales to "enjoy themselves".

The day out, which is often dubbed "one of the favourite days in the year" for Barry Island traders, saw 700 school children dance to music in a disco on Barry Island promenade, enter sandcastle competitions and enjoyed food and drinks on Friday, September 10.

O'Shea's Cafe and Boofy's offered chips for the youngsters, free of charge.

Craig O'Shea, owner of O'Shea's Cafe, said: "We must have donated about 500 portions of chips to the children.

"The children seemed to love building sand castles and playing around.

"It was a really enjoyable day for everyone."

Pat Collins, a Barry Island trader, provided deck chairs for the event and Marco's Cafe also supplied drinks and 1,000 ice creams for the children.

Marco Zeraschi, owner of Marco's Cafe, added: "Everyone was upbeat and joined in many of the activities.

"After all of the fun, dancing and running around, I think the children really appreciated having drinks given to them.

"It was lovely to see everyone thoroughly enjoy themselves on what is a wonderful annual event."

Sue Frampton, a volunteer at Variety, the Children's Charity, said: "Variety of the Children's Charity has been running at Barry Island for about 40 years. We invite schools from across South Wales to bring their children with special needs for a fun day out.The children can enjoy a fun day without worrying about anything, they really seem to benefit from this fantastic day out. We would not be able to continue to support this event without our sponsors Simms Metal Management and their suppliers."