FORTY-seven eager children raised a bumper amount of cash to buy new equipment for their nursery near Rubery.

The Jelly Babies Nursery and Pre-School, which meets at Longbridge Methodist Church, holds a fundraising event every year.

This time it held the 'Smartie Challenge'.

Each child took home a tube of Smarties and when the sweets had been eaten, they filled the tube with as many coins as possible.

An impressive £137 was collected and used to buy play equipment.

A giant four in a line game and two balancing boards to assist co-ordination are now features at the playgroup.

"The children love the new equipment," nursery co-manager Julie Kite-Lightfoot said.

She and co-manager Jacqueline Walker are both very proud of the large amounts of money they managed to raise, which amounts to almost £3 a child.