Forest pupils coin it in for quake survivors

Wednesday 17th March 2010, 2:29PM GMT.

Hamish McMahon, 10, with part of a coin haul collected in water bottles by Forest School pupils to help people in Haiti after the already-desperate country was hit by a massive earthquake.(Picture by Peter Frankland, 0933414)

PUPILS at Forest Primary School have raised £1,544 to help people in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

They gathered the money by filling empty water bottles with coins – and a few notes – over a period of five weeks.

Bridge to Haiti founder Sarah Griffith is going to use the money to continue the work her team started in the Caribbean island in January.

She flies back to the country on Friday and aims to set up a temporary school in the community where her team of nine, including five nurses, a paramedic and a playschool owner, will be based.

Ms Griffith was impressed with the Forest pupils’ achievement.

Molly Queripel, 11, said raising the money had been fun to do because it was for a good cause.