New York fire fighters helped

SEVEN Ipswich schoolgirls have raised more than £50 for New York firefighters in a money-spinning mail delivery service.The girls, Miriam Page, Amelita Flora, Stephanie Banks, Nadia Winger, Lucia Graham, Illana Flora and Holly Dowsing, who attend St Pancras Catholic Primary School and the 24th Ipswich Brownies group, had the idea of raising the money after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

SEVEN Ipswich schoolgirls have raised more than £50 for New York firefighters in a money-spinning mail delivery service.

The girls, Miriam Page, Amelita Flora, Stephanie Banks, Nadia Winger, Lucia Graham, Illana Flora and Holly Dowsing, who attend St Pancras Catholic Primary School and the 24th Ipswich Brownies group, had the idea of raising the money after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Throughout December, the girls gave up all their lunchtimes to sort and deliver the Christmas post to pupils and staff at the school.

Headteacher Stephen Barker, said: "We've been saying prayers for the people of New York throughout the term and two of the girls, Lucia and Stephanie came up with the idea at Brownies. It was a way of supporting the work of the New York Fire Department.

"It was a great idea and it showed initiative and awareness of other people in the world."

A cheque was handed over to members of the Suffolk Fire Service while the children sat on a fire engine at a recent Brownies event.

Proud parent Karen Sutton, mother of Lucia, said that the girls showed tremendous devotion to raising the money. She said: "They worked so hard and they thought long and hard about where they wanted the money to go. We have family in America, not too far from New York, so Lucia was affected by the Twin Towers disaster more than most.

"The fire brigade were absolutely fantastic, they took all the girls around the station and even demonstrated an exercise, which they loved."

Suffolk Fire Service will be sending the cheque to their colleagues in New York Fire via the Red Cross.