KIND pupils and staff at Hardenhuish School raised almost £2,000 during a special charity week which concluded with Children in Need last week.

A host of different activities, including a cake stall, Pudsey bear raffle, and copper coin collection, saw pupils raise £1076.08 for Children in Need.

The total was significantly boosted by a hard-fought staff versus sixth form netball match, played in fancy dress.

Children in Need day was the climax of Hardenhuish’s Charity Week, in aid of Save the Children, which was co-ordinated by sixth former, Kieran Mulvaney.

Pupils asked for the additional charity week this year after seeing the images of refugees crossing the Mediterranean and Europe to escape conflict and persecution.

A total of £735.08 was raised for the Save the Children charity.

Year 10 pupil, Maya Skelton, said: “We all wanted to help the plight of the refugees and were only to keen to help in whatever way we could.

"The camps that look after the refugees have been overwhelmed, and so essential basics are few and far between.”

Sixth form students ran another cake stall, while year 10 pupils had avidly filled three, full to the brim, shoeboxes containing essentials such as soaps, warm scarves, and body lotions to send to the Syrian refugees who have made their home in Calais, France.

Headteacher, Jan Hatherell, said: “I want to say a big thank you to everybody at Hardenhuish for their generosity and hard work at making this special charity week the best ever. We raised an amazing final total and I am proud of every one of my kind hearted pupils.”