SCHOOLBAGS full of books, pencils, stationary and water bottles will be winging their way to disadvantaged children in the Philippines, thanks to youngsters at St Neot School.

During the last school year, pupils at St Neot have raised £765 for the charity School in a Bag. This was enough to provide 38 bags - and the Cornish youngsters were able to pack them full of all the new school equipment themselves.

A school spokesperson said: ‘The bags will be sent to children in the Philippines who cannot afford to access education without the help of the charity.’

The School in a Bag initiative began in 2009 when founder Luke Simon and his family visited orphaned children in Swaziland, Africa. These children were given just one pencil each year by the government, and although they received one meal a day at school, they could often not eat it properly, because they lacked eating utensils.

School in a Bag has sent more than 80,000 of its bags to children all over the world who have been orphaned or affected by disaster.

The bags cost £30 each to make up, and each contains the resources to enable a child to ‘write, draw, colour, calculate, express themselves and above all, learn’, says the charity.