A group of north-east pupils have inspired their classmates to buy nearly £1,000 of toys to pass on to “less fortunate” local children.
The four students from Banff Academy approached their guidance teacher with the idea of raising cash for the Giving Tree project
Beth Slater, 13, Daryl Ross, 15, Hamish Geddes, 14, and Ryan Freeman Clarke, 14 were then assigned 25 local kids to buy presents for and set about fundraising.
With the support of their classmates, parents and teachers, the team were able to raise £760 to buy toys as well as receiving separate gift donations.
One person donated 25 chocolate selection boxes – one for every child – and two S2 boys raised £100 by doing a “sponsored silence”.
Last night, guidance teacher Annjanette Hazlehurst said: “They were talking and they wanted to do something to ‘make a difference’.
“We got in touch with the Giving Tree and they assigned us 25 kids. That put the pressure on to raise money.”
Once the team had raised enough money, they set out to buy gifts for their children.
Mrs Hazlehurst added: “We arranged a Saturday to go shopping together in Aberdeen. It’s actually quite hard to spend £760 on toys, but we had a great time doing so.
“The kids in our school are simply amazing – they are the best I have ever worked with.”
Last month, Banff’s famous Spotty Bag Shop called on local residents to break last year’s £25,000 fundraising total. The initiative will continue to deliver gifts of food and toys to vulnerable families in the run up to Christmas.
