PENARTH councillors have praised the work of local youngsters for carrying out voluntary work in Lesotho in South Africa.

Members of Penarth & District Lesotho Trust gave a presentation to councillors during a town twinning committee meeting last week about the work they carried out during a visit to a school in Lesotho earlier this year.

Nine youngsters made the trip in August after Penarth Town Council donated £500 to their fundraising earlier this year.

The money went towards building a separate girls and boy’s dormitory in one of the schools, with the charity group also presenting £7,000 towards TY Junior Academy.

During the presentation two representatives of P&DLT, Emma Sharpe and Stephanie Price, showed a video of the work they carried out there.

They said they spent a lot of time organising and categorising the library, as well as working with the school children and providing them with books.

After they returned home another group of adults went to Lesotho to help level the flooring of the class rooms.

Councillors said it was good to see where the money went and praised the professionalism of the video, saying it was so good that it should be used to encourage fundraising.

One of the youngsters said: “We all feel quite emotional about the whole experience. It’s something we will always remember. It has changed us and made us appreciate things more as they are so grateful for the tiniest things.

“We all want to go back. We have been bitten by the Lesotho bug.”

Councillor Rosemary Cooke, who represents the St Augustine’s ward, said the quality of filming was “wonderful” and added: “The way it zoomed in on the faces of radient, happy people, with the music in the background was very professional.”

Councillor Gwyn Roberts, who also represents the St Augustine’s ward, said it was a “superb video” and was “incredibly evocative”.

“It was so powerful it should be used for fundraising,” he said.

Councillor Clive Williams, who represents the Plymouth ward, added: “So many of these charities mess up as they bring in professionals and make it look phoney. As it was made from the heart that video should be used.”