YOUNGSTERS from an east Cleveland primary school have joined forces with one of the country's top retailers to help raise funds for charity.

The children, from Wheatlands Primary School in Redcar, have teamed up with Marks and Spencer in the High Street, to raise funds for Ican, a national charity that helps children with speech and language problems.

Pupils were asked to come up with their hopes and aspirations for themselves and their classmates for the next 50 years and pin them to a Rainbow of Hope in the store.

The scheme is part of a national fundraising drive for the charity - one of the Queen's Golden Jubilee charities - which sees Marks and Spencer donating £1 for each of the first 50,000 hopes that its stores receive.