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Pudsey surprises charitable students

20/11/2007

Students at the Manchester Islamic High School for Girls in Chorlton had a welcome surprise when BBC's Pudsey Bear dropped in for a special visit.

The girls had been raising money for Children in Need and Pudsey was invited by the school to pick up a cheque for £200, which had been raised by the students during their 'Odd Shoe Day' event.

Parents and teachers at the school also donated toys and gifts, which were handed over to staff at the Pendlebury Children’s Hospital with the help of Pudsey.

Chairperson of the school’s PTA, Iqbal Karim said the school regularly supported the local community.

He said: "It only made sense to involve the students in helping with Children in Need. Needless to say it was an enjoyable and rewarding day for everyone who got involved."

Head girl of the upper school Fareeha Karim said that throughout the past five years that she has been attending school, the students have always done their best to raise as much money as possible to help those in need.

She said: "The school has always provided us with many enjoyable opportunities as possible to help us achieve this."

Head girl of the lower school, Sanaa Ramzan said raising money for charity was important.

"Wealth is not distributed equally and therefore it is important for those who do have wealth to share even the smallest amounts with those who don’t," she said.

"It may not be a lot to the person giving the wealth, however it has a huge value to those who need it."

She added: "Compared to other well-established schools, Manchester Islamic High may have limited resources, but students still perform extremely well year after year.

"In the last two years students have achieved excellent GCSE examination grades, with 100% pass rates, 90% of which were grades A* - C. After GCSE’s, many students from our school go on to further and higher education and have become some of the most successful young career women of the British Muslim community today."