Charity champs catch eye of the Prime Minister

The club, for 14 to 18-year-olds, is sponsored by Spennymoor Rotary Club, and is dedicated to charity projects.

It is only one of three such clubs in the North-East, formed just over a year ago. It was proud to receive its official charter from Prime Minister Tony Blair, on a visit to the school last November.

The club has about 30 members who plan, finance and organise their own projects under the guidance of Mel Cormack, a technology teacher.

In the past year, the club has organised computer courses for local residents, as part of Northumbria Water's Square Mile Project; organised a Christmas fair at the school; undertaken leaf-picking and gardening at Butterwick Hospice; and taken part in a Chocoholics Night, at Tudhoe Community Centre, which raised £100 for St Teresa's Hospice, in Darlington.

There are two major long-term projects. One is to raise money for the Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland, for which members have done car-washing and sponsored walks and swims. The target is to raise £2,000 by Christmas.

The other project is a spectacles collection for countries in Africa. The spectacles are sent out to countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and distributed in local eye-clinics.

Not only do the members become involved in community and charity work, they also learn to work together, devising, organising and publicising the events and activities needed to raise money. They attend meetings regularly, take minutes, and keep a diary or progress sheet to record what they have learned.

Pupils Victoria Gash, the club's president, and Shaun Rooney, recently gave a presentation to a Rotary Club conference at Harrogate, detailing the work of the club in the hope of encouraging the establishment of other clubs in the area.

The club is grateful to Spennymoor Rotarians, and its president, Jerard Lyons, for all their help and encouragement. They have presented the club with finance and sweatshirts for all club members