SCHOOLCHILDREN once again set an example to others as they proved the season of goodwill to all men was alive.

Community parties were held and young people thought about those with little this festive season.

Staff and pupils at Smithills School invited the local community to share in an afternoon of food, singing and dancing.

Guests enjoyed a three course Christmas dinner, while they enjoyed festive songs.

Alice Lees, school business manager, said: "This year’s Community Party was a truly special event. It’s been a fabulous party, perfect in every way."

Young people at Bolton School thought of those less fortunate than themselves by helping fill Christmas hampers with everything needed to make a traditional festive feast for families in Bolton who are most in need.

The school's challenge was to provide 1,300 packets of stuffing and 1,000 jars of cranberry sauce. Pupils managed to exceed the target and donated 1,329 packets of stuffing and 1,288 jars of cranberry sauce, as well as making a £163.48 cash donation.

Year 12 girls ran sweet and cake stalls as well as organising a raffle and staging other fundraising activities to raise the money needed.

The school's head of Community Action Sophie Entwistle said: "This year it was a really close call as to whether we would hit the target given that we were — 700 jars of cranberry sauce short with three days to go, but a last minute push saw the girls respond in a fantastic way."

Dave Bagley, the co-founder and chief executive of Urban Outreach said that their one ‘random act of kindness’ would ensure that 2,049 children in Bolton would get a dinner this Christmas.

Families with children at Beech House, Bolton School’s Infant School, made an huge donation to the Bolton Lions’ Caring Christmas Appeal.

The appeal gives gifts to families who would otherwise not be able to buy presents for their children at Christmas. The School has now been supporting the Bolton Lions’ Christmas time efforts for several years.

The Beech House children and their families donated a wide variety of toys to the Bolton Lions, who collected them from the School.

Last year, the club managed to bring Christmas cheer by giving gifts to 1,300 children, an increase of 300 on the year before.