PRIMARY school pupils saved up their pocket money to help poorly children at a Swindon hospital.

Year two students at Oaktree Nursery and Primary School, in Park South, were given tubs to fill with 5p pieces only – and raised more than £120 for the children’s ward at the Great Western Hospital.

Donna Edwards, year two teaching assistant, said she was overwhelmed when she realised how much the students had donated.

“It was my idea to do this at the start of term three and they’ve been really excited about it,” she said.

“We had a list of different causes that we wanted them to choose from.

"Straight away they picked the hospital, they said they didn’t want any children to be bored and they always wanted them to have something to do when they’re sick,” she said.

“I got goosebumps up and down my arms when I read how much they raised. At most we thought it would be only £50 but the total kept growing.

“They said they were asking their parents for change, their brothers and sisters and saving up any money they got given as pocket money. Considering they’re only six and seven years old they’ve achieved so much.

“The children have been really involved and they wanted to raise as much as possible. You expect them to make the effort but to go to this level is unbelievable, although we did have to explain what 5p pieces were.”

The five pence challenge capped off a day of fundraising for the children who also had a dress-down event and cake sale in aid of victims of the Nepalese earthquake. The events raised an estimated £500 for those affected by the quake.

The children wore clothes in the red, white and blue colours of the Nepalese national flag, showing their solidarity with the victims of the earthquake.

Donna said: “We didn’t want them to see too much of what has happened. We explained what an earthquake is and showed them some photos of it. They were shocked by that and wanted to help.”

Lyn Watkins, administration officer at the school, said the fundraising was a way to bring the school together.

“It’s good that this is something we can all agree on and understand. As a community here we’re all pulling together to show support,” she said.