Students at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) put on an impressive and heart-warming fundraiser for Great Ormond Street Hospital recently.

The second year childcare students wore purple and worked with their teachers to cook and sell tasty dishes to pupils and staff. They also offered henna tattoos and the chance to talk to a representative about the hospital’s work. They raised £1.182 for the hospital.

Two of the students, Mubariz Ahmad Tallah and Lauren Blankson, will also be walking 56km (approximately 34 miles), from London to West Sussex, to raise funds for the hospital on May 24.

Mubariz said: “One of the main reasons we’re doing this is due to having a really close friend whose family has suffered from cancer.”

Lauren said: “We also chose this charity as it’s about children, so it links to our subject, and as a way of giving something back.”

Another childcare student, Adiba Ahmed, brought in her two-year-old niece, Surraiya-Aana who lives in Stratford and is receiving treatment at Great Ormond Street for Accute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

Adiba said: “Sometimes people can think ‘oh that’s just another charity’. I wanted to bring my niece in, so people could see a real-life story and see that unfortunately children too can get cancer.

“Surraiya’s parents are so grateful for all the help and support given to them by Great Ormond Street. If it wasn’t for the caring staff, they don’t know where they would be today.

“Many changes occurred for the family within a short space of time. Great Ormond Street helped to find a new suitable family home, and even helped them get back on their feet. Most of all, Surraiya was shown much love and affection, allocated her own play nurse and given a present weekly after her lumbar puncture surgery. This is a very little thing, but in a child’s world makes all the difference.”

Ashleigh Gibson, ambassador for Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “It’s incredibly important that young people realise what goes on at Great Ormond Street Hospital. We have to raise £50million a year to cover a wide range of things including redevelopment and research. A large majority of children that we admit are under four years of age, so there needs to be space for parents to stay there during this difficult time in the child’s life, which again we need funding for.”