A WINCHESTER college student has raised thousands of pounds for a charity supporting the world’s poorest children, with a night which promised to be a cultural explosion.

Peter Symonds pupil Ellice Esi Shields held an event celebrating African and Caribbean music, dance, fashion and food at Oceana nightclub, in Southampton, to support Mary’s Meals.

The organisation provides daily meals in school for more than one million of the poorest children in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.

The event coined ‘A Taste of Africa and the Caribbean’ was part of her extended project qualification and aimed to encourage people with different backgrounds to celebrate diverse ethnicities and cultures.

The event included dance performances, music and plenty of authentic African and Caribbean food, and a fashion show celebrating modern and traditional dress featuring pieces by Grass Fields and Kross Generation.

Each ticket sold covered the cost of providing a child with food for five months.

Ellice said: “I wanted to do something to mark Black History Month, and what started as a small event grew and grew. It was really stressful at times, but I’m glad I did it and it was really satisfying to create something for students, run by students to celebrate the cultures of Africa and the Caribbean and to raise money for charity at the same time.

“The event taught me a lot about interacting with people of all ages, professionalism, patience, creativity and the importance of planning – on the night itself we were on Plan C and as there was no Plan D I also learnt a lot about flexibility and thinking on my feet!

“I had a supportive network of people around me and I’m very grateful for their help. We had an incredible response and raised enough money to feed 180 children for a year.’

So far over £2,000 for Mary’s Meals, with donations still being collected.

The charity provides a daily meal in a place of learning to attract chronically hungry children into the classroom where they receive the education that could be their route out of poverty, with each meal costing just 7p.