Balfour Junior School celebrated its harvest festival today with a special assembly in aid of the homeless led by the Rev Alison Bowman from St John’s Church in nearby Knoyle Road.

Food, gifts, clothes and toiletries brought in by the children took pride of place in the school hall where four huge tables were needed to display what had been donated by the Balfour pupils and their families.

The items collected will be distributed by Portslade-based charity Off The Fence to people around Brighton and Hove who are homeless or vulnerably housed.

Fundraiser for the charity, Graham Turnbull, said: "By having collections like this, what it means is that money is being saved on things like coffee, cocoa and biscuits. We can therefore put funds into sleeping bags and medical supplies. It’s literally saving lives."

As well as working with the homeless, Off The Fence also runs safe-houses in Brighton and Hove for teenagers and women at risk.

Off The Fence currently have a specific appeal for donations of woolly or fleece hats, gloves and scarves. Anyone with such items to donate should contact Graham directly via email.