TWO young girls from South Tawton Primary School were the star attraction at an event over the weekend as they took it upon themselves to raise money for charity.

Eight-year-olds Lani Tolley and Amelie Osbourne-Dawes decided one day that they wanted to do something for charity, and so set about arranging to hold a fundraising stall at the baby and toddler sale at Okehampton Baptist Church on Saturday.

The girls were busy in the lead up to the event making things to sell on the stall, organising a raffle and a lucky dip and rounding up people to make cakes for them to sell in a bid to raise money for Hospiscare and the Balloons Charity.

Lani’s stepfather Tristan, said he was very proud of the girls: ‘The idea came completely out of the blue. She came home from school one day and said she wanted to raise some money for charity. Lani and her friend Amelie organised a table at the sale, made lots of things to sell and put a lot of effort into it.’

Tristan said he didn’t know why Lani and Amelie had chosen to support those two particular charities, but said that one of Lani’s other friends at school had lost her mother and was supported by the Balloons Charity, so he assumed that was where she had heard about it.

‘They managed to raise £155. Lani was aiming for £50 so they did really, really well. I think they were the star attraction at the event. It was a real proud dad moment for me!’