Charlene St John, Simon Hicks and Wendy Zadigue with the brick at Richard House Children's Hospice. Picture:Richard House Children's Hospice

Teenagers fundraising efforts for a children’s hospice were celebrated recently in a newly-created garden of meditation.

Staff at Richard House Children’s Hospice dedicated a special brick in their garden’s a ‘path of life’ for the £550 raised by 14 teenagers brought together by Newham College.

The hospice transformed a derelict part of its grounds into a garden to give family members and friends space to treasure precious moments with children with life-threatening health conditions.

The hospice in Beckton held a ceremony in the garden for all their donors recently. Newham Deputy Young Mayor, Wendy Zadigue, 17, Newham College project worker Charlene St John and former project worker Simon Hicks represented the teenagers.

Anthea Hare, hospice life president, said: “The path of life creates a positive experience for family members and friends of the children who stay here and represents so many individuals and organisations that have helped us to expand our work.

“The children enjoy being here and we give them support to do things that they wouldn’t be able to do in their own homes.”

College staff member, Liana Mathurin-Brown, last summer organised activities for the teenagers for the ‘Summer of Lifetime’ programme. The programme was supported by the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, vinspired, Newham Council, and the government.

Students organised a fashion and talent show and street collections to raise funds as part of the programme.

Wendy said: “I was keen to help terminally ill children and to raise other young people’s awareness about them.

“Taking part in fundraising was fun. I had not done something like that before and at the time I wasn’t the confident type.”

Charlene said: “It was a positive experience for the young people to give to the community and it was a privilege to see them take part in it.”