Pupils from Hartlepool's English Martyrs RC School and Sixth Form, in Catcote Road, have raised £4,000 since the start of September, which will be split between two good causes.

A total of 20 Year 11 pupils completed a 10km sponsored bike ride round Summerhill Country Park to experience the distance that some African youngsters have to walk just to get to school everyday.

The 15 and 16-year-olds completed the stretch and raised £1,500, some of which will go towards Jole Rider, a charity that collects bikes from recycling centres and businesses and then refurbishes them with help from volunteer engineers and partners HM Prison Service.

The bikes are then shipped to Africa, in batches of 300 at a time, and delivered to secondary schools where they are allocated by teachers to students with the longest walk.

Linda Ward, school enterprise co-ordinator, explained that the other half of the money will go towards supporting a school in the Gambia, where resources are stretched.

In February this year pupils travelled to Darsilami School in the western region of the country, and the 20 Year 11 students will be returning again in February next year.

Mrs Ward said: "We want to make some links with that school in terms of doing project work together, dance projects and a media project where we look at the differences and similarities between teenagers here and in Gambia."

She said pupils hope to support the school's agricultural studies by funding a fence to stop goats from roaming free and eating their produce.

And plans for the future also include creating a library for the disadvantaged students, who struggle for resources.

The school also held a night of international celebration as the culmination of a week's project, called English Martyrs Goes Global, showcasing work they had completed and holding a quiz and tombola to raiseg a further £1,125.

Mrs Ward said the rest of the money had been raised through cake sales and they are also planning a shopping bag pack and a race night to push it over the £5,000 mark before they go.

She added: "They have done fantastically and put an awful lot of effort into it but the other side we appreciate is everybody's support."