A SCHOOL lesson on natural disasters and the forces of nature has prompted a hard-working eight-year-old to raise more than �500 for the victims of the devastating Pakistan floods.

For the past term, pupils at Woods Loke Primary School, in Oulton Broad, have been learning about these topics and have been encouraged to think about the devastating floods in Pakistan.

After hearing how hundreds of thousands of people had lost their homes and been left without any food or clean water, Harriet Morrice decided she wanted to 'do something to help them.'

Harriet then wrote to 100 companies, most of them local, and asked them to donate prizes so she could organise a raffle through her school to raise money for the flood victims. She then designed her own poster to promote the raffle – and has been busy selling tickets to staff, friends and their families.

'We wanted to do something different so, with my best friend Sophie Lamy, we thought of having a raffle, because we have over 300 children in the school and thought we could raise a lot of money if some people would buy two or three strips,' Harriet said.

She said the letter had prompted an excellent response, with 50 prizes donated for the raffle, which will be held after school today.

'I thought if I could raise �100 it would be good – but we have done more than �500 now!' Harriett said.

Louise Thompson, her teacher at Woods Loke, said Harriett deserved praise for her initiative and weeks of hard work.

'People have been really touched by Harriet's efforts. When you cover a particular topic it is really nice to see someone who is so interested in it actually go on to do something about it – it is fantastic!

'Harriet is a real credit, and she has put so much hard work into this,' she added.

Once the final fund-raising total is tallied, the proceeds will be sent to Pakistan via Oxfam.