More than £250 was raised for hospice patients by caring students as they packed bags for supermarket shoppers. 

Pupils at The Highcrest Academy helped raise £264 for The South Bucks Community Hospice – based at the nearby Butterfly House – which is their chosen charity of the year.  

Last Friday (December 15), 10 students from across all age groups at the academy spent two hours at Morrisons helping shoppers and collecting donations. 

Paul Shaw, assistant head teacher, said: “We were really pleased with the amount we collected. Shoppers were incredibly generous.

“Our students stood at the end of tills holding buckets and were thrilled to see the donations pouring in.”

Ben O’Keefe, community fundraiser for The South Bucks Community Hospice, was on hand to meet and thank the children.

He explained to them about the work the hospice does for patients with life-limiting conditions, and thanked them for raising awareness.

He said: “It was fantastic to watch them doing this for us. The money donated by shoppers is enormously appreciated, but it’s also vital to make the public aware of the work the hospice is doing so we are very grateful to Highcrest for arranging this.

“We would also like to thank Morrisons for helping us in this way.”

The hospice, which is non-bedded, offers holistic palliative care services and cares for around 65 patients per month.