PRIZES are being given to pupils for their work to commemorate the First World War.

The Consett-based charity, I Support a Hero, contacted schools and asked students to do artwork and creative writing to depict what the conflict means to them.

Iraq veteran Helen Hall, who launched the charity with her father, Shaun Bailey, said she has been overwhelmed by the response from North Durham Academy and St Bede’s in Lanchester.

She said: “They have obviously been learning about the war and taken in what has been said because they have produced some awesome work.”

Mrs Hall, was at St Bede’s today (Thursday, July 17) where Lauren Kennedy won the overall writing prize and will be at North Durham Academy tomorrow where Christa Colledge will be named as overall winner for her artwork.

The charity is holding a family fun day on Middle Street in Consett from 11am to 3pm on August 10 to commemorate the 100th anniversary outbreak of war in 1914.

Mrs Hall, a mother-of-two, served in the Army for nearly ten years until 2009, and her husband, Darren, is a member of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards.

She added: “It is to commemorate the 100th anniversary so it is important that we do something.”