Talented pupils from St Kessog’s Primary in Dumbarton are celebrating raising £279 to help some of the world’s poorest people.

The primary seven class learned how to make clocks and bird boxes which they then sold to raise money for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).

The school handed over this money to the charity during a special presentation.

Pupil Mirren McGuire said: “It felt good because we’re helping people in other countries who don’t have as much as we do.”

The project was part of SCIAF’s Talented Fundraisers Programme in which pupils learn how to use their skills to start up a small business and are given money which they then use to generate a profit.

The initiative reflects some of the work the charity does overseas, providing people with the tools and training they need to set up a business so they can provide for themselves.

The children at St Kessog’s were given a loan of £50 to kickstart their project and they used the money to buy materials to build clocks and bird boxes to sell. The products proved to be a big hit, with the bird boxes selling out almost instantly.

Primary seven pupil Emily Roberts said: “It was great because once we sold them all another person wanted to buy one, so they must have been good if everyone wanted one.

“We didn’t know we were going to raise that much money, we thought we would maybe make £50 but we raised much more.”

SCIAF Schools Volunteer Michael Rainey mentored the class through the project, and was overwhelmed by the results.

He told the Reporter: “They are all very talented. I was surprised at their capabilities. I was a secondary school teacher, and given their young age, I was surprised at what they could do.”