SCHOOLCHILDREN in Almondbury have raised almost £1,600 for a charity which funds research into childhood brain tumours.

Pupils at Greenside Infant and Nursery School raised £1,577 at a sponsored sing.

All 140 pupils - aged four to seven - took part in the event on May 25.

They sang 28 songs in an hour.

All the cash raised has been given to Andrea's Gift, a charity formed by the neurosurgical team at Leeds General Infirmary and the medical oncology team at St James's University Hospital, also in Leeds.

It was set up in memory of 42-year-old Andrea Bennett, who died in 2002 of a brain tumour.

She had been treated at LGI.

Andrea's Gift is the only UK charity dedicated to research into childhood brain tumours.

The event was suggested by the parents of pupil Amber Bentley, five, who recently survived a brain tumour.

Amber, of Almondbury, was diagnosed with the tumour when she was three.

Her parents Karen, 31, and Paul, 34, realised something was badly wrong when their daughter began suffering head pains that left her screaming in agony.

Initially, Amber's headaches were diagnosed as migraines but her parents were unsure and eventually in 2004, tests showed Amber had a tumour the size of a fist pressing on her brain.

Doctors gave her a 50/50 chance of survival, but after an 11-hour operation and treatment at Leeds General Infirmary, Amber pulled through and returned to school in April.

Amber, who has a three-year-old sister Elle, has some cancerous cells in her tumour - known as a pylomixoid astrocytoma - so she needs scans every six months, with check-ups every three months.

* People who would like to help Andrea's Gift can log on to www.andreasgift.org.uk or call 01274 785092.