THOUSANDS of pounds have been raised for charity by staff and pupils at a city school.

A Christmas fair was held at Plymstock School recently, raising £3,000.

A BBQ, festive mince pies and a raffle, with grand prizes including a wide screen TV, PlayStation3 and iPod, also helped to bring in the money.

"It was just brilliant and so much money was raised to help local charities," said Tracey Webb, head of special needs at the school and chair of the Parent Teacher Association.

"People are just buzzing from how well the fair went and the children are coming in and saying how brilliant it was."

One pupil, she added, even set up their own stall at the event to sell home-made items to publicise a humanitarian trip to Uganda while a teaching assistant sold silk paintings to raise money for The Samaritan's Purse.

Also adding to the fundraising total was a secret Santa where children could pay for mystery gifts for their parents.

Mrs Webb said that money raised from the fair would be split between local charities and school initiatives.

"Even at this time with the credit crunch people are still able to give to charity," she said.

"Charities are getting hardest hit in the recession and we wanted to prove that we could do this to help them."