Kind-hearted schoolboys have raised nearly £11,000 to help a vital charity buy a new delivery van.

Pupils at Monmouth School took on several fundraising challenges, including bake sales and car washing in order to donate the money to Raven House Trust.

Based in Newport, the charity provides food and furniture for people in need throughout Gwent and beyond.

Rhiannon Wynne Lord, Head of RS and charity co-ordinator at Monmouth School, said: “The pupils have really got behind this.

“It has taken about 18 months to raise the money and numerous sponsored events have taken place, like the ergometer challenge to row the distance of Hereford to Monmouth and the Black Mountains Three Peaks Challenge.

“We chose to support Raven House Trust because the School has had links with it for many years, and it’s good to see the money we raise being put to good use locally.”

As well as raising the cash to fund a new delivery van for the organisation, pupils from Monmouth School and its sister school, Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls, help in the charity’s shop and food bank once a week.

The pupils and their friends and families have also donated a substantial amount of food to the cause.

“It’s really important that the students go down there and see where their food goes to,” Mrs Wynne Lord continued.

“It makes them realise how fortunate they are, and how important is that we help people in need.

“When the HMSG girls were working in the food bank one day, a 17-year-old girl with a two-year-old baby came in for a food parcel.

“She had just been given somewhere to live by social services.

“Her visit sparked a real debate among the girls, who are about the same age.

“They were empathising with her, and it showed them how other, less fortunate, people have to live.”

This is Mrs Wynne Lord’s third year as charity co-ordinator at the School.

While in the position, she has helped the boys raise around £50,000 for various causes, including Movember and SKRUM, which raises awareness of aids among schoolchildren in Swaziland through the game of rugby.

Click here for more on the Raven House Trust.