A NORTHWOOD schoolboy who raised money for a Watford charity has been praised for his initiative.

Jay Pithwa, who is in Year 11 at Northwood School sold wristbands in aid of homelessness charity the New Hope Trust as part of his citizenship studies.

In return for his efforts he was given a tour of the trust after presenting community funding officer David Jamieson with a cheque.

Mr Jamieson said: "Jay is hoping to go on to the sixth form at Northwood School next school year, and I am sure that with the sort of initiative that he has shown with this project, he will do really well.

"The amount of money raised is not important, we wanted to celebrate Jay's contribution because he decided to do this on his own."