Students yesterday handed over 180lb of food that they collected for a charity dedicated to ending homelessness in Bermuda.

Valerie Smith, a teacher at BCCL, a co-ed private school that enrols pupils with different learning needs, said the idea to collect food stemmed from a visit to Home, where some children had volunteered to help.

“So we decided that for our Christmas charity, we would ask for donated food to go to Home,” Ms Smith added.

“Every pupil was asked to bring something in and we weighed all the bags and it was 180lb of food.”

Ms Smith said it was also a chance to explain to the students how the food would be used and to give more understanding about homelessness.

“We explained what the food was going to be used for and how it was going to be distributed between different families.

“So some of them bought little things like a toy in a jewellery box. They understood it wasn’t just for adults, it was also for children.”