A CARING schoolgirl truly deserves a gold star for philanthropy after helping raise enough money to build a classroom for children less fortunate than her.

Eva Partridge has helped a charity shop to collect more than £1,600 for impoverished children in a third world country by organising lots of fundraising events and activities across her hometown of Ulverston.

The 10-year-old Pennington School pupil has been volunteering for Oxfam at the Ulverston branch in King Street for several months.

She has been praised by staff for her incredible determination to collect the £1,500 needed to equip a school with everything needed to teach in a new classroom.

Building momentum

Eva started out on the project in aid of Comic Relief by selling Red Noses and from there it snowballed.

She has spread the message of Oxfam across the playground and beyond, organised raffles at school and run stalls in the town centre. 

Eva said: "I began by selling Red Noses from the Oxfam shop in town.

"Then the manager approached me and asked if I would like to help a campaign to set up a classroom. 

"I set up my stall at the Dickensian Festival where I sold my own toys and some donated by my family.

"And then to round it off someone donated a huge teddy bear so I raffled it off at school and that is what took over that target."

Children at Pennington School supported Eva by making individual bookmarks for sale.

Target reached

The Oxfam branch has been keeping track of Eva's fundraising efforts on a chart in the shop window.

To their delight the project has now trumped the £1,500 needed, with the latest count standing at almost £1,700.

Oxfam's 'Kit Out A Classroom' is a product available to buy from the charity and the gift is part of its Investing in the Future campaign, which aims to train teachers and raise the ambitions of children in Asia and Africa.

The money raised by Eva and friends will go towards kitting out a class with desks, chairs and schoolbooks - everything needed to encourage young boys and girls to get an education and build a better future for themselves.

Five facts about Oxfam

- In 2014/15, Oxfam supported more than eight million people in crisis.

- At any given time, the charity is responding to more than 30 emergency situations.

- Oxfam is currently providing shelter, medical aid and food to people in Yemen, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

- Oxfam is an international confederation of 18 organisations in more than 90 countries.

- One of Oxfam's aims is to mobilise the power of people against poverty as one person in three in the world lives in poverty.