PUPILS from Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School are helping vulnerable young people this winter by collecting donations for the homeless and the lonely.

Their Winter Warmer fundraising appeal is being spearheaded by Year 10 students, who are filling shoeboxes with gifts and treats the youngsters would normally not get.

These will then be distributed through Blackburn Nightsafe, Age UK and the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Nightsafe Day Care Centre Coordinator, Amanda Fletcher, spoke to the boys about the 860 young people they helped in 2017, how someone can become homeless and the support that the charity offers.

She said: "A massive thank you to the staff, children and generous parents for their kind gesture of fundraising and donating gifts for young homeless clients at Blackburn Nightsafe. We wouldn’t survive without the generous support of local people."

Year 10 pupil, Daanyaal Rabani, said: "Learning about the work of Blackburn Nightsafe helps us acknowledge that we need to appreciate the things that we have.

"We want to make a difference to the young people at Nightsafe because we are so close to their ages and it’s so near to home. I hope the people receiving them get through this difficult time in their lives."

Principal of TIBHS, Majid Ditta, said: "As a school community we are keen to ensure that people who are less fortunate than ourselves receive gifts this winter so they know that people are thinking of them and the boys chose to support young homeless people.

"It has been very heartening to see our pupils coming together to organise the collection of donations."

"Through our charitable endeavours we aim for it to have a lifelong impact on the boys so they may want to contribute further to good causes in our local area.

"It’s good for the boys to understand how privileged they are compared to other children and young people who live side-by-side with them in their own home town."

For further information on Blackburn Nightsafe please visit www.blackburn-nightsafe.org.uk/