PUPILS, staff and volunteers gave up their time at the weekend to help raise more than £500 for a school project.

Children on the eco committee at Inverkip Primary wanted to brighten up their playground by creating an attractive new mural.

The pupils were tasked with creating a poster with a water theme and local artist Jim Strachan selected the winners, Carly Wilson, Bruce Benson and Cameryn Foley.

To bring their design to life, pupils staged a bag packing fundraiser at Tesco Port Glasgow, where they took it in shifts to help shoppers, collected £585 in donations.

Teacher Victoria Chalmers said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the amount raised.

"So many people were interested in what we were raising money for and it was a great opportunity to have the children chatting to members of the public about our school and our mural.”

The aim is to have mural in the playground and add to it every two years, leaving a lasting legacy for pupils who moving on to high school.

Mrs Chalmers added: “Jim and the pupils will now work to combine the best ideas from their posters and hopefully we will have a finished mural by June.

“I think it will be very impressive and I am excited to see what they come up with.

“I am sure it will be a lovely addition to the school.”

The school will be doing another bag pack at Tesco Greenock on Saturday May 18.