STUDENTS at the West Somerset Community College in Minehead have been busy fundraising to ensure the success of their ongoing exchange scheme with a school in Uganda.

The group has to raise £30,000 to cover the cost of their African counterparts visiting the UK in July and their own return trip to Uganda next year.

Already, some £2,600 has been raised towards the cost, with £1,000 of that being collected during the Easter holidays.

This year's exchange students - Ed Griffin and Jack De Wynter Smith of the college's Interact Club, fellow year 11 students Sophie Batts, David Burt, Deanna Payne, Emma Scott and Josh Wright, together with year nine students Marie Denley and Hannah Thompson - will be focusing on the theme of sustainable energy.

They will be expected to learn about different methods of electricity generation which could be used both at home and abroad.

The aim is to find the best way to power new laptop computers given to the college's partnership Ugandan school, the Buhemba Secondary School.

Exchange leader Simon Rossiter said all the students taking part in the latest phase of the successful exchange programme could expect "a life-changing educational opportunity".

He also welcomed Roger Andrews from the Rotary Club of Minehead to the exchange scheme and said the college was keen to hear from other community groups who would like to meet the Ugandan students when they arrived in July.

More information about the college's partnership with the Buhemba Secondary School is available from Simon Rossiter by emailing [email protected]">[email protected].

Photo: Steve Quantick