BUSINESS-minded youngsters at a local primary school who are doing their bit for the community recently visited a top university to present their work.

The student leadership team at Hunningley Primary Academy consists of seven youngsters - Seth Malkin-Ormston, Celine Vladislav, Beau Silcock, McCorley Jackson, Xenia Carcea, Poppy Henstock and Isabella Smith - and they’ve been hard at work on their project called ‘Warm Hands Warm Hearts’.

The children have created a range of homemade soups to share with parents, carers, and members of our local community, raising money for a homeless charity.

The youngsters’ recently visited the University of Oxford to present the findings of their project - earning themselves key life skills and a Young Champions nomination in the process.

They are now set to extend the project by working with ButterBeanz Cafe, located close to the school, where the children will be serving soup to the wider community.

Vice principal Jack Parker told the Chronicle: “We take part in something that’s called the Student Leadership Project every year and this year we’ve decided to focus on a community based initiative called Warm Hands Warm Hearts.

“The purpose behind it is to develop our children’s leadership skills and they have come up with this project themselves and the name for their project.

“Their aim is to raise money for a local homeless charity.

“The children have each completed a food hygiene qualification to ensure they’re handling food safely.

“They’ve met with our executive business manager for the trust to learn about money and financing.

“They’ve done a budget pitch to myself and our executive principal Catherine Horton Hale to ask for a budget to start up their project.

“We would not charge for the soup in terms of it being a set price, it’s just a donation.”

And the scheme’s going incredibly well, it’s been helping the children in a number of ways.

“We went up on Tuesday afternoon to ButterBeanz Cafe just up the road to serve,” he added.

“They’ve sold out completely.

“They’ve raised over £100 just in 45 minutes so it’s been a real success.

“I am incredibly proud of our student leadership team and feel genuinely privileged to have worked alongside them.

“From the outset, this was a project completely driven by the children.

“Through their efforts, they have raised a significant amount of money for charity and learned key skills.

“They have built strong partnerships with local businesses, completed food hygiene training, learned how to manage a budget and successfully used marketing to bring the wider community together.

“Their recent visit to Oxford University was a real highlight in March.

“They delivered their presentation with confidence and passion

“Seeing them represent their school and community so positively was incredibly special.

“We are proud to share that Warm Hands, Warm Hearts will continue year round.”