SPORTING students have started a fundraising campaign to help pay for a hockey tour in the Mediterranean.

More than 30 students from Northallerton College are planning a tour of Cyprus at Easter and have arranged an all-night "hockeython" event to help raise sponsorship cash.

PE teacher Sara Hughf said: "We'll keep the hockey going from 9pm until 9am. Our primary aim is to raise £800 to buy hockey strips for the two squads who are going - one of boys, the other girls.

"If there's any money left, we'll use it to bring down the cost of the trip. The students are paying their own way."

Miss Hughf said they could recognise commercial sponsorship by putting a company's name or logo on the strip, which is a white polo shirt with green lettering, shorts and a drill top.

The group of 32 students fly to Cyprus on April 6 and will spend a week there, each squad playing three games against local sides.

Miss Hughf said she had previously taken school parties to Mediterranean countries such as Malta, Spain and Gibraltar when she was teaching in London.

"They were mainly football and netball teams, but now hockey is really taking off and this tour is a sign of the times."

Anyone interested in sponsoring the group can contact Miss Hughf at the college on (01609) 773340, extension 244.