Rotary Interact Club help ‘School in a Bag’

Run by The Piers Simon Appeal, the project works with children overseas who are victims of natural disasters and for whom education could be their passport to a life out of hardship and poverty.

The youngsters presented the charity with a cheque for £250, which they had raised by selling wrist bands, T-shirts and their most popular fundraiser - doughnuts!

The proceeds were used to purchase 17 school bags, which the club members enjoyed filling with school equipment, including pens, pencils, water bottles and lunch boxes. The bags will be sent to schools in Africa, and each bag is numbered so that the students know exactly where they have been sent.

Since it was formed four years ago by students from Cranleigh School and St Joseph’s School, Cranleigh. the Interact Club has been a keen supporter of various charities.

In 2011, the pupils raised £500 for ‘Help for Heroes’. Then, in November 2012, they were delighted to present Jeremy Heath, from Water Aid, with a cheque for £500.

Other charities the Interact Club has supported include Touraid, which gives children from the poorest parts of the developing world the opportunity to take part in sports tours to Britain, and Lifebeat, a charity that organises summer camps for teenagers from all parts of Britain in order to help them to express themselves through creative arts.

Interact is the youth arm of Rotary, for students between 14 and 18 years old, and aims to bring young people together as a social group and to raise money for projects at home and overseas.

Report and pictures contributed by Cranleigh Rotary Club.