Teenagers from Bristol Grammar School have raised a massive £11,000 in just six months to help young girls from rural communities in Morocco to continue their education after primary school.

Until recently, most young girls in the area surrounding Imlil had no opportunity to continue their education, because the only college, about 17km away, was not accessible to them because their parents could not afford to pay for lodgings.

That was until the area's first boarding house was finished in May 2008, thanks to the fund-raising efforts of students from Bristol Grammar School.

A group of 14 students from the school's lower sixth form have just returned from a trip to Morocco to see how their school's hard work has helped to change a group of girls' lives.

Bristol students dug the foundations for the first boarding house in 2007, and also visited the girls at the house in 2008 to see how it had developed.

The group who have just returned from Morocco have managed to raise £11,000 through sponsored runs, providing refreshments for school events, cake sales, raffles, selling homemade jewellery at craft fairs, and bag packing at supermarkets. The highlight of the fundraising was the Souk evening in the school's Great Hall in November last year, which raised £3,355.

Laura Williams, 16, a student in the lower sixth, told the Evening Post: "We've raised £11,000 in the last six months and it was amazing to meet the girls for the first time, and see how this money was being used.

"It was an eye-opening trip and the start of what we all hope to be a long-running and successful project."

The boarding house was designed to accommodate 24 girls, eight for each of the three years covered by the college curriculum.

Andrew Dimberline, head of leadership at Bristol Grammar School, has been heavily involved in organising trips to Morocco, and accompanied the students on the latest trip.

He said: "Several of the students have said to me that visiting the girls in Morocco was a 'life-changing' experience for them, and they have already started talking about the possibility of returning to Morocco, and to continue to fund-raise for the cause – even after they leave Bristol Grammar School.

"This is perhaps the most significant achievement of my teaching career, not only have we made a real difference to the Moroccan girls who now have the opportunity to continue their education, but we have also had a great influence on our BGS students who have a greater understanding of their own privileged position and how our work can make a positive change to the lives of others."

The school has already started planning their next trip to Morocco in 2010.

Mr Dimberline added: "Fund-raising events are a constant feature of our calendar and we have just heard that the funds required for a second boarding house in a neighbouring valley are almost in place."

The building cost 80,000 euro, and to look after the girls, providing them with food, some clothing, school materials and a housemother, costs about 1,000 euro a year for each student.

The students who went on the trip were Ruth Baker, Alex Bragg, Ellis Hazelgrove, Amy Hegarty, Matthew Hicken, Philly Koehli, Lottie Philpott, Shona Pickersgill, Emma Prys-Roberts, John Shepherd, Laura Williams, Hanyang Li (Felix), Ollie Purnell, and Kate Vousden.