STUDENTS from Stanley are presenting a military charity with a cheque for £8,000 this week.

Representatives from Help For Heroes will be visiting North Durham Academy on Thursday, September 17.

Youngsters at the school chose the organisation as their sponsored charity and spent the last academic year raising funds.

Every event that was staged throughout the year included some form of fundraising, whether it was cake sale, ticket sale donations or raffles.

In July, two teachers completed a sky dive for Help For Heroes and in March students came to school dressed as a hero in exchange for a £1.

One teacher joined in and had his legs waxed in front of students over lunchtime for the charity.

Students held the How Far Will You Go for Help For Heroes event in May.

The idea was for students to receive sponsorship to run, walk, cycle or swim as many kilometres as possible.

Principal David Thornton said staff were amazed by the students’ show of "determination and effort".

Mr Thornton said: “I am so proud of how our students have embraced their chosen charity and the amount that they have raised.

“For North Durham Academy to raise such a huge amount of money makes me incredibly proud.”