A SCHOOL which will change the lives of some of the poorest children on the plant, has been built thanks to the kindness and generosity of a Highbridge man.

Already 28 youngsters - some as young as five and many witnesses to brutal murders - have begun an education thanks to the remarkable donation from Peter Gilliard, who left £26,000 for the school in southern India in his will.

Six of the kids benefiting from the donation are orphans, three witnessed their mothers being murdered by their fathers, while two saw their parents burnt alive in Divancheruvu, which is on the outskirts of Rajahmundry - a city in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Peter Gilliard was so moved by their plight after a visit to the sub continent in 2000 that he changed his will a year before his death so half his money would go towards building a better life for them.

See this week's Weekly News for full story.