A CHARITY supporting people with long-term health conditions and disabilities has received a £3,000 cash boost thanks to a group of hard-working schoolchildren.

The Thistle Foundation will benefit from the work of Maya Lavender, Heather Mackinnon, Katie Moore and Bethany Ross.

S4 and S5 pupils at Knox Academy took part in the final of the annual Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) in the lead up to the end of the school term.

Each team of youngsters had to impress a judging panel of Sue Beattie, YPI; Sue Cook, headteacher at the school; Craig Hoy, South Scotland MSP and councillor for the Haddington and Lammermuir; S6 pupil Hannah Wyllie, who was part of a team that won the competition previously; and S3 pupil Hannah Niven.

Mr Hoy stressed each of the entries were "really strong" but highlighted what made Maya, Heather, Katie and Bethany stand out above their rivals.

He said: “They managed to marry a lot of knowledge about how money was going to be spent with engagement with the charity.

“There was a significant focus on what could be done locally as well.

“They really managed to showcase how the money was going to be used and impact locally.”

The final saw pupils representing four different groups – Our Community Kitchen, Barnardo’s and LGBT Youth Scotland, alongside the Thistle Foundation.

Presentations were recorded in advance of the event, which took place during the final week of the school term.

Then, each team had to answer questions from the judging panel.

A spokesman for the school congratulated each of the teams for their efforts and said: “The winning team delivered a very good presentation, they had strong knowledge of their charity, a strong video and it linked well to the local community.

“Well done to all pupils who took part in YPI in what has been a challenging session.

The Thistle Foundation, which is chaired by East Lothian’s Chris Bruce, is based in Edinburgh and supports people to take control of their life, focusing on the person, not their situation.

Gail Begg, Thistle corporate and community partnership lead, thanked the four pupils for their efforts.

She said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Heather, Bethany, Katie and Maya were successful in their YPI project in support of Thistle – the funds will go a long way in helping Thistle to support people living with long term health conditions.

“Everyone here at Thistle would like to say a big thank you for all the effort put in – their passion and energy shone throughout the process and it’s wonderful to see their hard work paid off.”