MORE than three hundred students lined up at Winchester's Peter Symonds' College to make a charity donation of a very personal kind.

Generous pupils at the sixth- form college enrolled to give blood to support a Hampshire charity aimed at raising awareness of the need for such vital supplies.

Scores of students at the Owens Road college signed up to offer their blood to the Blood Transfusion Service in aid of the Stuart Bakewell Challenge pro ject.

The blood appeal was launched by the mother of a teenager who died from cancer in 1998 in a bid to raise awareness of the need to give blood among young people.

The transfusion team has already visited the college three times in the last 18 months. It was so successful this time that 111 students gave blood during one day.

A spokeswoman for the college said: "The students have been wonderful. I spoke to the blood transfusion service and they were completely overwhelmed."