A GROUP of charitable Wee County schoolgirls rolled up their sleeves in an effort to support those affected by the bushfires in Australia.

The quartet – Ellie McBrier, Kaizie O'Hagan, Brooke Murphy and Cassidy Blyth, from Abercromby PS – began fundraising recently to collect money to help with relief.

More than 1,600 firefighters were called in to battle the fires which have ravaged land and displaced thousands of people all over the country. Around 30 people are said to have died, with millions of animals affected.

After seeing the devastation, the 11-year-old girls began brainstorming ideas and eventually came up with a competition to guess a stuffed animal's birthday.

Aptly deciding on a koala, the girls went around the school asking fellow pupils to guess the date, with two lucky winners guessing correctly.

The girls raised a fantastic £65 and after being converted to Australian dollars, mounts up to $130.

Mrs Kay Faichney, administration assistant at Abercromby PS, told the Advertiser just how proud the school is of the girls.

She said: "Abercromby PS are so proud of the girls for their selfless efforts to help raise awareness and fundraise for such a worthy cause.

"Well done Ellie, Kaizie, Brooke and Cassidy."

The girls even went on to make a power point for the school assembly and very bravely stood up in front of the whole school to talk about their endeavour.

Around 3,000-3,5000 homes are estimated to have been destroyed since the bushfires broke out last year, with most of the devastation centred around the New South Wales region.

Experts say around 10million hectares of land has been engulfed, enough to cover the majority of England and Wales, with black smoke moving across the Pacific to Chile and Argentina.

Millions of animals are thought to have been impacted by the fires, with some pushed to extinction.

Rain finally fell on some parts of the country, by the fires are still ongoing, with overall costs expected to hit the A$5billion mark.