Most 10-year-olds have a long list of wishes for their birthday presents, but three pupils of Ballard School had more philanthropic ideas.

All in Year 5, they held a joint disco birthday party in January, but rather than accepting traditional birthday gifts, they invited their friends and guests to make a donation to Oakhaven Hospice in Lymington instead.

Elizabeth Smith, Lucy Fowler and Lucia Dunning, all close friends who turned 10 within weeks of each other, came up with the idea themselves, with the initial aim of raising £100.

But their touching gesture inspired such generous donations that they twice upped their target and have raised over £1,000 – smashing their last goal of £750.

Headmaster Andrew McCleave said: “I truly was delighted to hear of this kind and selfless gesture by these three friends, who instead of thinking of their own wish lists on their birthdays, put others before themselves and chose to raise money for a very good cause.

“I’m very proud of them and hope their example might inspire others in the school community and beyond it to find a way to ‘pay it forward’ too. Well done girls – and happy birthday.”

All the money, being collected via a JustGiving page, will go to support Oakhaven Hospice in providing palliative care and end of life support for people with life-affecting illnesses and their loved ones.

Jill West, head of fundraising at Oakhaven, who was presented with the cheque when she came to visit the girls at school said: “A huge thank you to Elizabeth, Lucy and Lucia for raising this money – giving up their birthday presents to help others is an act of real kindness and generosity and we’re all incredibly touched by it.

“We are totally overwhelmed by the selfless choice the girls made to have donations to us rather than presents to celebrate their 10th birthdays. To raise over £1,000 is a phenomenal achievement and will help us to continue making every moment matter for those in our care when they need us most.”

If you’d like to make a donation towards the birthday girls’ fundraising efforts, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/l-f3?utm