KIND-HEARTED schoolchildren have raised more than £800 to help people to access a popular stretch of coastline.

Youngsters at The Compass School collected an impressive £849.17 through an enterprise sale at the Haddington school, with the money going to North Berwick-based Beach Wheelchairs.

The school’s pupil council identified the good cause as one of the three main charities to support throughout the year.

Beach wheelchairs enable people with disabilities to access the beach through using specially designed wheelchairs created to travel over the sand and even into the water.

The scheme was first set up in 2015 and, since then, similar facilities have been established in Portobello and at Seton Sands.

The enterprise sale, which took place before the end of the school’s term, saw children designing and making a range of different items, from artwork to baking and from origami creations to practical items to use at home.

The sale followed on from a successful Swimathon earlier this year, with youngsters diving in to raise funds for WaterAid.

Mark Becher, headmaster at the school on West Road, was proud of the pupils.

He said: “I was delighted when the children of our pupil council chose Beach Wheelchairs as one of the principle charities they would be supporting this year.

“The charity does so much fantastic work and has opened up the beautiful beaches of East Lothian for those who previously had very restricted access or none at all. The children greatly enjoyed creating and making for the enterprise sale, which saw a vast range of goods for sale.

“To achieve this total is testament to their efforts and the generosity of all those who supported them.

“We would like to thank everyone who assisted the children in this very successful initiative.”

Last week, a group of staff and children from the pupil council visited Melanie Kay at Beach Wheelchairs’ facility in North Berwick.

The children had the opportunity to view all of the wheelchairs and to meet with a family who had travelled from the west of Scotland in order to use a wheelchair.

The pupils spoke to the family about the benefits of the charity and they all observed the importance of these chairs first-hand.