A CONGREGATION at St Mary's Church in Fordingbridge have raised £300 to help flush away poverty.

The Do for the Loo event was organised by Revd Rachel Noël and those in the congregation, as part of Toilet Twinning - a campaign to help sanitise third world countries, including Uganda and Bangladesh.

Scores of people spent a penny, swapping Smarties for coins and a bought hundreds of slices of cakes to add to the pot.

Fundraising just started this month and will continue to enable Toilet Twinning, a partnership between development agencies Cord and Tearfund, to help some of the 2.5 billion people worldwide who lack decent sanitation.

Revd Noël said: "During our launch service in September, everyone joined in heartily as we sang the toilet twinning song. We even had a loo in the service!

"We had filled our special toilet (it was new!) with Smarties tubes. Everyone at church has taken a tube home, to enjoy the chocolate, and refill the tube with coins to help raise further funds for Toilet Twinning.

"Every minute a child dies from diseases linked to unclear water and poor sanitation; 60 per cent of all rural diseases worldwide are caused by poor hygiene and sanitation.

"We hope that by raising awareness and working together to raise funds, we can help to solve a serious problem around the world."

To find out more about Toilet Twinning or to twin your own loo, visit www.toilettwinning.org