STUDENTS at a Teignmouth school have raised enough money to buy a house for a poor family in Europe’s most impoverished state.

The youngsters at Trinity School took part in the buy a brick for Moldova project, and collected more than £1,300, which was enough to provide a home, via the Exmouth-based charity Christian Response to Eastern Europe. (CR2EE).

They set themselves the challenge as part of their ‘giving nation’ charity week, when the students spent a week engaged in charitable activities, social enterprise and individual giving, as well as developing their awareness of those in need, both locally and other countries.

CR2EE is a renowned international charity, founded more than 25 years ago with the aim of bringing relief to poor people and families in Romania and Moldova. Much of its focus nowadays is on Moldova, which is regarded as the poorest country in the whole of Europe, where extreme poverty can be seen almost everywhere.

Students have also been providing practical support. A group of them recently rolled up their sleeves and got down to some serious hard work by sorting a mountain of bags of donated clothes, to help clear the charity’s busy Exmouth warehouse. This followed Trinity’s hugely successful Christmas appeal, when students and their families put together a large shipment of shoeboxes filled with gifts for Moldovan children.

Head of Key Stage 3 at Trinity, Gerry Davis, explained how the house project came about. 

‘Speaking to Hugh Scudder from CR2EE when he came to collect our Christmas boxes, we were surprised to find that houses in Moldova cost as little as £1,000. 

‘As a community we felt we could make a real difference to the lives of a family in Moldova by raising enough funds to enable CR2EE to buy a home for a family.’

The students were tasked with building a house of Trinity bricks, each brick representing a £2 donation, or £2 raised from fundraising activities. 

Mr Scudder was absolutely delighted with the efforts of the students, and the support given by the Trinity School community, and told them: ‘Thanks to you a family has a home. It needs a lot of work doing to it, but they are indescribably thankful.’