A CHARITY helping children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses make memories has received a £3,000 cash boost thanks to hard-working school pupils.

When You Wish Upon A Star was chosen by a group of Ross High School pupils for the school’s annual youth philanthropy initiative (YPI).

The programme is championed by pupils, who take part through research, creativity and fun competition.

Pupils Megan Shaw, Rosemary Morrison, Erin Fettes and Isla Fraser, all in S2, impressed the judging panel.

Judith King, Scotland regional fundraiser for the good cause, which has premises in Musselburgh, said: “We are so proud of our YPI wish granters.

“They have been incredibly engaged with their project and our powerful wish granting work.

“Their presentation was outstanding; it’s no mean feat to present in front of a S1 year group, their peers, teachers, charity representatives, family members and the judging panel – the girls excelled!

“We are truly honoured to have been chosen as their local charity of choice to support.

“We are thrilled that they won their school final and secured a wonderful £3,000 grant to support local wishes being granted and where precious lifelong memories will be forged for our families.

“A huge congratulations to Ross High School and all the student finalists who raised crucial awareness of their chosen charities. Their YPI final was exceptional.”

Megan, Rosemary, Erin and Isla delivered a powerful and emotive presentation about When You Wish Upon A Star and its work within local communities, and demonstrated how a £3,000 grant would impact the charity’s mission of granting wishes.

The pupils visited the group’s office in Musselburgh and the charity’s only fundraiser in Scotland, worked with volunteers and supported a recently granted Taylor Swift wish in Edinburgh, with friendship bracelets being made as a gift to the charity’s wish child, who attended the concert at Murrayfield earlier this month.

Megan, Rosemary, Erin and Isla said: “We chose When You Wish Upon A Star because we believe every child deserves to smile.

“During our YPI course, we had to think of effective ways to be able to directly support the children that the charity supports, such as volunteering and supporting wishes being granted.

“We hope that the £3,000 will go towards a magical experience that a family will never forget and we look forward to supporting the charity in the future.”

Nicola Campbell, history teacher and YPI lead at the secondary school, congratulated the winning pupils.

She said: “S2 citizenship classes at Ross High School have been learning about social issues and the issues that these cause personally and socially across our communities.

“Part of the course had students complete work with The Wood Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI).

“This is the first year that YPI has been part of the S2 curriculum – we were incredibly proud of the maturity, compassion and empathy that students demonstrated during their work.”