SMALL acts of selflessness by a group of secondary school pupils has helped boost the funds of the Nepal Earthquake Appeal.

The student council at Park View School in Chester-le-Street was so moved by the plight of the Nepalese people in the wake of the recent devastating earthquake that they decided to raise money to back the appeal fund.

Year seven and eight students, at the school’s lower site, at North Lodge, were asked to, “give up a treat for the day”.

They were urged to go without that treat and, instead, donate the money they would have spent on it, to assist the appeal.

In just half-an-hour the school council raised £160 from generous donors.

Head teacher Iain Veitch said: “I’m never surprised by the generosity of our students.

“They go out of their way to support those who are less fortunate than themselves."

More than 5,000 people are believed to have died in the wake of the quake, which struck on April 25, sparking an appeal launch by the Disasters' Emergency Committee.