STUDENTS handed more than £700 to charity after holding a string of fundraising initiatives.

Youngsters at Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College presented a cheque for £775.48 to Butterwick Hospice, as a result of a newly-formed partnership between the two organisations.

Towards the end of last year, a number of pupils from the student council developed a number of activities to raise money for the hospice.

They included a casual clothes day and a Christmas fair, and the proceeds were handed over on a visit to the hospice.

Mel Lyons, from the college, said: "The care given at the hospice is of very high quality and a very strong community ethos exists at the hospice."