Pupils dish up help for Haiti

SCHOOL pupils, their teacher and an Indian restaurant all joined forces to raise money to pay for life-saving water purification kits.

Sixth-formers from Woodlands School in Allestree organised a charity night at Saffron, which is owned by one of the school's science teachers, Abdul Shahid.

collection plates: Teacher Abdul Shahid, owner of Saffron restaurant, held a charity night at which staff and pupils from Woodlands School, in Allestree, raised money to help survivors of the Haiti earthquake.

Staff and pupils enjoyed a meal at the restaurant in Curzon Street, raising more than £600 for the Aquabox charity, which has just sent 800 boxes to Haiti.

Mr Shahid said: "The charity night was organised by the sixth-formers from Woodlands School and supported by friends from Rolls-Royce.

"It was a great night and we've raised £606.35. We would like to thank all those who supported the people of Haiti."

The Give Water, Give Life campaign, launched at the end of November, has so far raised more than £100,000 for the Aquabox charity.

Run by Wirksworth Rotary Club, the charity sends water purification kits to victims of natural disasters, wars and poverty.

Last week, 600 boxes, which also contain essential welfare items such as tools and cooking pots, left the charity's depot in Cromford destined for Haiti, which was rocked by an earthquake on January 12.

The batch followed a shipment of 200 which left last month.

Volunteers are now working round the clock to get another shipment ready in the next couple of days. The charity, a project of Rotary International, has so far spent £65,000 sending aid to Haiti.

More than 150,000 people were killed in the earthquake, which left over a million more homeless.

Alan Brady, head teacher at Woodlands, said pupils felt moved to act after seeing pictures of the devastation on TV.

He said: "I am really proud of all their efforts. It was a great evening and a good time was had by all.

"This event followed a fancy dress day before Christmas which raised £1,200 for Aquabox."

Meanwhile, a fun day at a Derbyshire care home raised more than £100.

There were bric-a-brac stalls, tea and cakes and a raffle during the event at Amberleigh Manor in Primrose Hill, Blackwell, near Alfreton.

Local Scouts also washed cars from 10am until noon to add to the appeal.