KIND-HEARTED youngsters at a North-East school have helped raise more than £1,500 towards the Nepal earthquake relief effort.

Students at the Federation of Abbey Schools, in Darlington dressed in blue and red to symbolise the Nepalese flag in a fundraising day on Friday (May 1).

The school's support for the cause is particularly poignant due to the link it has with Hindu Vidyapeeth (HVP) School in crisis-hit Kathmandu.

In a letter to parents, Abbey headteacher George Ford wrote: "In light of the terrible earthquake in Nepal, we are keen to contribute to the disaster relief effort currently taking place.

Last year, our two schools were officially linked through the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms project.

"We were recently able to host a visit from Vishnu, the deputy head of HVP school, who spent a day with Year 6 children learning about life in Kathmandu."

Abbey teacher Amanda Noel was due to take part in an exchange visit in June, with the aim of strengthening links between the two schools.

That visit has had to be postponed and is now likely to take place in the autumn.

All money raised by the youngsters will be donated to the HVP Nepal-UK charity fund which is providing support directly to those most affected by the earthquake.