THREE children from a Bothel school were so moved by the plight of animals suffering during the wildfires in Australia that they rallied round to raise lots of funds.

St Michael's Primary School pupils Maisie Greening, Jamie Storey and Milly Bowe raised an impressive £550 by organising a jumble and cake sale.

The pupils were so keen to do their bit they went to head teacher Andrew May and asked if they could organise some fundraising activities within the school.

"With very little help from myself they arranged a jumble sale and cake sale one afternoon near the end of school. So many families donated jumble and made cakes it was amazing," said Mr May.

"I really was impressed with everybody's generosity."

All of the money has been sent to the World Wildlife Fund, to support the animals affected by the fires. The trio were delighted to receive Koala Protector certificates.

"The most impressive thing about the whole thing was that the children had the idea themselves with no prompting by anybody," said Mr May.

"Independent children taking action about a cause that was important to them - brilliant! The children are an inspiration to us all."