Pupils and staff at an Oxford school have raised £3,000 in under a month for victims of a deadly earthquake in Pakistan.

The Iqra School, an Islamic school in David Nicholls Close, Littlemore, handed over £3,050 to Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief this week.

The 140 pupils at the all-girl establishment, based at the Lawn Upton building, put on a number of events to help those caught up in the quake which struck the Baluchistan region on October 29.

Measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, the disaster killed hundreds and left many people homeless as villages, made largely of mud and wood, were destroyed.

Hojjat Ramzi, the school’s principal, said: “The money goes straight to help those in need. It will be used to rebuild schools and help children.

“It is very cold out there and many pieces of timber are needed for the buildings.

“They also need food, water, and blankets.

“It is unfortunate that in this country the disaster was only in the news for a few days, then disappeared. But people are still suffering.”

Funds were raised through a number of events organised by staff and pupils.

Dr Ramzi said: “The girls have been very brave to raise this amount of money, and we awarded prizes to those who raised the most.

“They did a very good job.

“We held special fundraising events, including a car-boot sale and a cake sale.

“The girls also went round collecting door-to-door and from families.

“Some of them also stood in the middle of Oxford shaking their collections tins — and even gave their lunch money to the appeal.

“We are very proud of them.

“These children are the people of the future and they are learning about humanitarian work and how to help each other.

“The school itself is in desperate need of money, but, this is a matter of life and death – and we need to have priorities.”

tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk