A group of friends are taking on quirky challenges to help raise money for underprivileged children in India.

Dalia Friend, Nati Hayeem, Tamar Neville, Tsipporah Lax, Barat Galer and Tamara Ezekiel, pupils at Hasmonean School, in Page Street, Mill Hill, are part of this year’s Wings of Hope challenge.

The scheme sees students across the UK fundraise to help orphaned children in developing countries, including India and Asia.

Last weekend they braved freezing temperatures for a sponsored stroll with a twist - walking along 12 of London’s iconic bridges.

But instead of walking across each bridge in a normal fashion, they took inspiration from sports day events and held egg and spoon and sack races.

Tsipporah, 14, said: “We all had a lot of fun doing it. The whole thing bought us closer together as friends, too.

“I think people were impressed with our originality.”

The girls, who are in year 9, raised £120 from passer-by’s donating as they carried out their challenges.

They have also recently completed an ‘eco challenge’, where they gave up electricity for a week - including their mobile phones and hot water.

Nati, 14, said: “It was the hardest for me because I’m glued to my phone, but I was really inspired by the great work Wings of Hope do.”

So far, they have raised £465 out of their £1,000 target.

In the last weekend of January, they will spend the day in Waitrose, in Brent Cross, helping shoppers pack their bags.

The Wings of Hope scheme gives one fundraising team the opportunity to travel to India to meet the children they are trying to help and see the impact the money has had on their lives.

Barat, 14, said: “We are so lucky to have such a great education and live very privileged lives - but people in India don’t have that luxury.

“By doing this, we hope we can do our bit to help them.”

To donate, visit http://www.justgiving.com/connect-6.