FAMILIES caught up in emergency disaster zones will be helped to rebuild their lives thanks to the hard work of young people at a Fenland school.

Cambs Times: ShelterBox tents are erected by people displaced on the hilltop above Barranca Vieja, Northern Colombia, that was flooded in under an hour when a dyke broke in the middle of the night.ShelterBox tents are erected by people displaced on the hilltop above Barranca Vieja, Northern Colombia, that was flooded in under an hour when a dyke broke in the middle of the night. (Image: Thomas Lay / ShelterBox 2010)

A Shelter Box containing a tent, cooking equipment, mattresses and blankets has been bought following fund raising by pupils at Leverington Primary Academy.

The emergency equipment will be distributed by a UK charity which has become established at the forefront of disaster relief.

The charity provides life-saving supplies for families around the world at a time when they need it the most.

Some people have lived in the shelters for two years while they wait for townships to be rebuilt.

Leverington pupils will be able to track the story of what happens to their shelter thanks to a special numbering system which allows people to see where their help has gone.

Deputy headteacher Elaine Aldrich said the children had done a fantastic job raising the £590 needed to buy a box.

In just one day they raised £522 through a non uniform event, cake stall and bric a brac.

The remaining £70 came through a second sale.

Mrs Aldrich said: “Children on the school council instigated the idea, what they achieved in a short space of time is superb.”

The money was presented to King’s Lynn Priory Rotary Club who will co-ordinate the shelter box donation.

In the 12 years since ShelterBox was founded, the charity has responded to more than 200 natural or man-made disasters in almost 90 different countries and provided life-saving aid for well over one million people.