Big-hearted students are hoping the paper cranes they lovingly made will offer hope to those in need hundreds of thousands of miles away.The origami handiwork of year four students at Warwick Academy is to be taken directly to the victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. Each pupil made 20 origami cranes, which symbolise long life, good health and good fortune, at the school’s International Day last week.The cranes were white to symbolise hope and red to represent love these are also the colours of the Japanese flag.The 1,000 paper cranes, which include personal wishes of hope, will next month be handed out at hospitals, nursing homes and evacuation centres in Japan.The touching messages include: “I wish the dead people would come back to life.”The cranes are being taken to Japan by staff at Japanese reinsurance company Tokio Millennium Re.Jane Vickers, director of development at Warwick Academy, said they wanted to help those who had had their lives devastated in Japan.She said: “The students at Warwick Academy hope that the cranes bring some joy and hope to the people of Japan.”Tokio Millennium Re was involved in collecting earthquake donations in milk cartons and three employees will go to Japan next month to deliver funds to the Japanese Red Cross and help with rebuilding work.CEO Tatsuhiko Hoshina and underwriting assistant Victoria Clipper visited Warwick Academy on Tuesday morning to talk to students.Mr Hoshina said: “If there is any good that came out of this tragic event it is to know that there are warm-hearted children that are caring and making efforts to help those they have never met before on the other side of the globe 7,500 miles away.”The making of the paper cranes was also a successful fundraiser as students charged family and friends from $2-$5 to write a wish for people of Japan on each crane.They raised a total of $2,000, which they handed over to the Bermuda Red Cross to help the people of Japan.The year four youngsters came up with the idea of making paper cranes after reading the true story called ‘Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.’It tells the story of an 11-year-old Japanese girl who has leukaemia as she was poisoned by radiation when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.Sadako and her friends start to make 1,000 paper cranes in the hope that the Gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again.The crane, which is seen to be a mystical figure which can last for 100 years, is the most popular origami figure in Japan and is known around the world as a symbol of peace.The paper cranes were hanging in the school’s Primary Quad until they were handed over to Tokio Millennium Re this week.