CHILDREN who had to spend Christmas in hospital were given a special gift by a group of Droitwich students.

Eight Year 13 students from Droitwich Spa High School donated a Nintendo GameCube to the children's ward of the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The pupils, who are members of the Sparks youth group, bought the console for the school's games room.

But Sparks member Rebecca Harris said the room was not as popular as they had expected.

The 17-year-old said: "We were left with a brand new console and we didn't know what to do with it. So we decided to donate it to the hospital."

Sparks is part of the YouthBank scheme, a grant-making initiative run by young people.

The Briar Mill school was one of the first to enter the scheme, receiving grants of £1,500 for its first two years.

Now, Sparks generates its own money by receiving a percentage of ticket sales of school productions and other fund-raisers.