ENTHUSIASTIC pupils gathered so many harvest festival goodies for their elderly friends they ended up with two trolleys left over to give to the food bank.

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy year 10 students donated more than 2,000 things, from tins of vegetables and packets of pasta to sauces and soups.

Then on the last day of term they divided their haul into bags before heading out into the community.

Student support manager Ann Sanders, who helped organise the collection said: “The children loved it they were all so good it was the last day of term and so it was only the last few hours of the day.

“It helps to get the children out to see the elderly and the elderly to see the young people, because a lot of these people are house bound.

“I think its lovely to mix these generations and it gives the children a sense of responsibility so it’s teaching them about the community and giving.”

But they had donated so much that they had two full trolleys left over, so they decided to give them to the Swindon Food Collective.

The manager of SFC Cher Smith said: “I think it is a wonderful thing it’s very community orientated. They have done this just in time for Christmas and that’s our busiest time of the year. Schools in the area are very supportive and helpful over the harvest time and that’s really great.”