STUDENTS served coffee and cake in a fund-raising initiative that was launched when a teacher was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Northallerton College volunteers have raised more than £200 in aid of Macmillan Cancer Care at a recent coffee morning.

The tradition began in the school in 2003 when a teacher was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Since then the disease has affected more staff and pupils’ families.

Volunteers bake cakes which are sold along with drinks for Macmillan’s annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

Stuart Fyfe, 15, from Yafforth, said: “We do this every year because we feel it is really important to do something around a disease which seems to affect more and more people.”

More than £200 was raised through the coffee morning, with other activities, including a sponsored leg wax and busking, expected to bring the total to near the £300 mark.

The college’s learning zone manager Catherine Walters, who helped organise the event, said: “Our young volunteers did a fantastic job and we are delighted with the amount of money raised for a very worthwhile cause.”

The charity helps people living with cancer and their families, offering financial advice, respite care and domestic support.