A BURY school has raised £1,614 for Christian Aid after children were told about the work of the international development charity.

Staff and pupils at St Peter's Primary School held a fundraising day at the end of Christian Aid Week.

The gesture came after children at the Whitefield Road school learned about the lives of women and children in Ethiopia and the work that Christian Aid did to help them.

They decided to plan a number of activities to raise as much money as possible. This included pupils paying £1 to dress as cows or to wear black and white to school, having a cake sale, and washing staff cars. They also completed a sponsored walk and earned money at home throughout the week by carrying odd jobs.

Staff at St Peter's were amazed at the amount the children and their families managed to raise.

Headteacher Mr Steve Wedgeworth said: "We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our children and their families. Their hard work and determination to help others and to try to make a difference is marvellous."

Jane Wilde, a volunteer for Christian Aid, came into the school to receive the cheque from the children and delivered an assembly to show them how much the money raised would help others.