School children build solar lights for Rosie May Foundation

Children from a Newark school have raised £954 to build solar lights for children in Nepal.

Highfields Independent School has been working with the Rosie May Foundation, which aims to help children, particularly girls, through crisis by the means of education.

The children built the solar lights last Thursday for them to be sent to rural Nepal.

They raised enough money to make 40 lights through a sponsored run they did in June.

All children from four to 11 took part in the three-mile run, which is the distance that the children in rural Nepal have to walk to school each day.

Major donor manager for the Rosie May Foundation, Emma Davis, said: "The solar lights are really important to the children in rural Nepal.

"In rural Nepal children have to use open fires to do their homework because there are no street lights.

"The 40 solar lights made by Highfields will stop 40 children from getting burned by fires doing homework and other day-to-day activities."

The school chose to work with the foundation earlier this year after the headmaster Mr Richard Thomson won a dancing competition organised by the Rosie May Foundation.

The foundation wanted more children to be involved in the process and approached Mr Thomson to see if his school would be interested.

Mr Thomson said: "We were delighted that it was chosen as the school’s international charity by the school’s charity captains.

"On the back of the huge success of 'Strictly Rosie May' where my wife and I were persuaded by the pupils to compete in a dancing competition, raising over £10,000, the children then wanted to do something to make a difference too.

"The pupils wrote messages of support to the children who will receive the lights and assembled them ready to be taken out at the end of the month."