STUDENTS at Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh, dug out their old school ties and blazers while staff found their mortar boards and gowns for a “uniforms-day” fund-raiser.

It was in aid of the Hannah Foster Memorial Academy in India, following the tragic death of the former Barton Peveril student in March, 2003.

All the tutor groups in the college were asked to raise at least £10 through donations and students were asked to wear their old school uniforms for the day.

Each tutor group that achieved this was given a celebratory tag to put up in their classroom.

Not to miss out on the fun, staff were asked to either wear their old school uniform or to dress up as old-fashion teachers in gowns and mortar boards.

At lunchtime, students participated in a uniform fashion show and were shown a television clip about the school in India where their money was being donated.

The students committee decided that the money raised would go towards the cost of uniforms for pupils in India, who would need them for their next school. The uniforms cost £10, but most of the parents only earn £1.10 a day.

In the past, £3,350 has been raised through a clothes swap, a plant swap, selling cards and the student committee donating money raised at their summer ball.

The uniforms day was just one of many events in the last two weeks of the college term.

Students produced a version of The Visit, a black comedy by Friedrich Durrenmatt, about the power of money to corrupt moral principles.

Last week, the college held its music concert in the Thornden School and its annual fashion show in which Textiles students took to the catwalk wearing their own creations.

The programme was rounded off last Thursday when special guest, Dr Tim Hunt, Nobel Prize winner for Medicine, gave a lecture on The Cell Cycle.

Hannah Foster was a student at Barton Peveril College when she was abducted, raped and murdered in March, 2003.

Her killer fled to India to try to escape justice, but was eventually captured when a taxi driver, an employee of the killer, responded to a national appeal and tipped off police.

Instead of spending the £4,500 reward on himself, Jason Lepcha used the money, with help from villagers, to secure a plot of land on which he has built an English school in Hannah’s name.

If you would like to donate money towards the appeal, send cheques made payable to Barton Peveril College to The Hannah Memorial Fund, Barton Peveril College, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, Hants, SO50 5ZA.