SCHOOL children from Bournemouth sang to hospice patients and made crafts as part of a school fundraising challenge.

Year six pupils from St Thomas Garnet’s School visited Lewis-Manning Hospice in Lilliput after choosing to support the charity in June and aim to raise £500 for the good cause.

Teacher Zachary Higgins arranged for the children to see where their fundraising will go, by meeting the patients and staff and taking a tour around the facilities, guided by the charity’s mascot, Lewis Bear.

Mr Higgins said: “The children will be doing various fundraising activities at school and at home during June for Lewis-Manning, so we thought that by visiting the hospice, they get a better understanding of what they are fundraising for.

“When we returned to school, we took time to reflect on the visit and discuss what it meant to the class.

“They have set a target of £500 to achieve during June so fingers crossed they succeed.”

Paul Tucker, communications officer at Lewis-Manning, said: “The visit was absolutely fantastic and the patients absolutely loved having the children in the day hospice.

“They performed a number of songs before they mingled and did everything from clay model making to playing dominos.”

Lewis-Manning Hospice supports over 650 local people living with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, which opened 15 en-suite bedrooms on the ground floor of their state-of-the-art facility, which offer respite rehabilitation and end-of-life care.

Visit lewis-manning.co.uk