PUPILS at a school in Weymouth have been collecting items to help look after animals at Dorset's Monkey World, inspired by volunteers helping animals in Australia during the bushfires.

Students at Southill Primary School have managed to gather a huge amount of donations for the ape rescue centre, with everything from blankets to pineapples to keep the primates warm and fed.

The donation scheme began after a recent whole school assembly, where the pupils learned about volunteers helping the wildlife affected by the catastrophic Australian bushfires.

Many of the students and teachers became inspired to do something similar and so they turned to Monkey World, who were keen to receive a number of items to help the primates within their care.

Over the course of one week, the children and their families have donated more than 200 items including old towels, blankets and sheets as well as food for the apes like fresh fruit and vegetables. All donated items were chosen from a list of useful items provided to the school by Monkey World.

Year 1 teaching assistant, Sadie Symonds, said: "It has been very rewarding to be able to do something small which we hope will make a difference, we have also received many more donations than we ever anticipated.

“Thank you to Miss Curtis for organising this project and to all our children and their families who donated."