THIS is the house that Alder Grange built!

Students from the Rawtenstall high school were so moved by television pictures of last year's floods in the African country of Mozambique they raised £1,000 to build a house for a single mum with four sons, who were made homeless.

They raised the money and gave it to the charity Imagine, which is run by a couple from Liverpool who have been working with people who lost their homes and possessions in the floods.

Head of humanities Mrs Claire Fletcher said: "My parents live and work in Mozambique and when I went out to Mozambique in the summer I was able to attend the ceremony where Alder Grange House was formally handed over to the family of Anastacia Zita and her four sons aged 10, seven, four and 12 months.

"When I met Anastacia we did nothing but cry, it was a special, humbling experience for both of us.

"We have also agreed, through Imagine, to support her financially for the first year which will cost $100 every three months so she can get back on her feet.

"That amount is nothing and we could raise it easily but we want the students to work at raising the money so they appreciate why they are raising it. We are also going to be supporting the education of her four boys."

Students recently collected shoe boxes for the Samaritan's appeal and also sent five to Mozambique for the family for Christmas.

The school has also formally linked up with a secondary school in Bagamoyo, but not on a penpal basis. Instead the students in both schools will be carrying out projects and the work will be exchanged between them.

Mrs Fletcher said: "We want to use this link to be able to share experiences and support the education of the pupils in both in Mozambique and in Rawtenstall through joint projects. We have agreed six for this year, the first will be a Christmas are competition entitled my home, the second an art competition called my country and three winning paintings from each will be painted in the link schools.

"I am hoping to secure funding so the artists involved will be able to travel to the schools to carry out the painting.

"We are also getting children to take photographs of their time in school and explain why they have taken the picture.

"Another project will be to detail their town or city's history and we will also be doing a short play on the effect of AIDS on the communities. The final project will explain traditional dance."

The school has also raised £1,000 to equip an AIDS hospice in Mozambique.