STUDENTS from The Highcrest Academy have been praised as being ‘a credit to the school’ after raising £300 for charity in just two hours at a superstore last Friday.

Donations poured in from the public as a group of 26 year seven youngsters from the academy in Hatters Lane, High Wycombe, helped shoppers pack bags at Asda in Cressex during a fundraising drive for One Can Trust.

The trust runs community-based projects to alleviate poverty in High Wycombe and South Bucks, and is best known for running a foodbank. Pupils at Highcrest voted last year to support it with a variety of activities.

"Both Asda and the One Can Trust were hugely impressed with the enthusiasm, positive attitude and behaviour of the students on Friday. They are a credit to the school," said One Can Trust project leader Kate Vale.

"Our thanks must go to them and to the generous shoppers who gave so selflessly to help others in need in the High Wycombe area."

Highcrest students have also raised an additional £500 for the charity by other fundraising events, and have donated hundreds of cans for the foodbank Emma Bowden, Assistant Headteacher, said this week: "We are very proud at the way our pupils responded to the challenge of helping their local community. We allowed them last year to choose which charity they wanted to support, and they were enthusiastic about backing One Can Trust. It’s great to see that they have now put their words into action in such an impressive way."

At the launch of the initiative last November, a packed assembly at Highcrest was told by One Can Trust’s Sarah Mordaunt how families in the area have hit problems because some salaries have failed to match rising prices of food and fuel. She told them one in five children in High Wycombe are living in income poverty.

Meanwhile, One Can Trust raised about £1,000 in food and can donations including the students’ donations at Asda during its fundraising at the store on Friday and Saturday.

Any student or parent wishing to donate to the appeal, should bring in their food cans to reception at the academy.