TERMINALLY ill children and their families will receive more support in Dorset thanks to the efforts of Year 4 pupils at a Poole school.

Youngsters from Willow 2 class at Bearwood Primary and Nursery School raised an incredible £1,566 for the charity Gully's Place in Poole Hospital when they took part in the Go-Givers Make a Difference Challenge.

The eight and nine-year-olds organised an ice pop sale and a sponsored fun run for the whole school to take part in.

They were amazed when they raised more than five times their original target of £300.

The youngsters have since received visits at school from two Gully's Place nurses and 18-year-old Ray, who has a life-limiting illness and received support from the charity as a child.

Teacher Nicola Partridge said: "The project aims to get the children to make a difference in some way to a local cause. The whole project is child-led. The children have been taking part in this activity for the last 10 weeks.

"The nurses from Gully's Place came into school and visited the children and were blown away by what they had achieved."

The money raised will go towards producing memory boxes for families, supporting children in taking part in days out to the charity's newly acquired beach hut and helping families to make final memories.

Next month the whole class will go to the Pavilion in Bournemouth and will make a presentation to other schools and the Go Givers team.

They will outline what they have learned and what they have achieved.