FUNDRAISING students have made a difference to the lives of hundreds of people across the North-East and Africa after raising more than £60,000 for three charities.

Pupils from The King's Academy, Middlesbrough, presented cheques of £1,800 each to representatives of the school’s three adopted causes - The Butterwick Children’s Hospice, Stockton, The Great North East Air Ambulance and The Uhuru Ministries, Kenya.

Geography teacher Samantha Wills, who accepted the cheque on behalf of The Uhuru Ministries, Kenya, said that the money would help to provide shelter, food, books and clothing to children orphaned or abandoned due to civil war in the country.

Community fundraiser for The Butterwick Children’s Hospice, Stockton, Tracy Bowstead, thanked the academy for its continued support, which has so far raised over £20,000 for the children’s cancer charity.

“Donations like this are wonderful and show that the staff and students here at The King's really do think about others before themselves,” she said.

Janet Hume, public liaison officer for GNAAS, added: “The Great North East Air Ambulance costs £4.5 million a year to run and receives no government or lottery funding.

“We are completely reliant on donations like this to ensure that we can continue the invaluable work that we do helping save lives across the region.”