By Sarah Johnson
 WHENEVER
best friends Simone Black and Molly Brown
(right) get together there’s always some mischief.
 The primary four pupils from Prestonpans, East Lothian, are forever putting their heads together and coming up with ideas for projects to keep themselves busy.
Four weeks ago during “Golden Time” — which is awarded for good behaviour at school — they found themselves with a spare
half hour to do what they wanted.
Some pupils read a book, others go out to play but these two little girls wanted a holiday project that would help other children so they sat chatting about ways of making money.
Simone (9) said, “It was Molly’s idea at first and she asked me if I wanted to help raise some money for charity.
“We’ve helped out at coffee mornings and school bazaars before but this time we wanted to do something ourselves.”
Children
Molly added, “My dad told me The Sunday Post Sick Children’s appeal helped children across Scotland so we decided to sell unwanted stuff, like toys, watches and a harmonica, and organise a tombola to raise money.
“I had some Christmas and birthday money saved and Simone’s grandad gave us £20.
“We decided to spend this money on bits and pieces to put in the tombola, and charge people 50p a go. Everyone would be guaranteed a prize.”
Simone added, “We also decided not to sell anything for more than £1 because we thought no-one would buy it.”
The following Monday Molly and Simone, who live in the same street, were up bright and early, even though it was the first day of their holidays.
The girls, who have been friends since P1, headed to the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre in Leith where they hit the shops with their shopping list — with Molly’s dad, Derek, in tow.
Molly laughed, “I said, ‘Right dad, we’re going’. We were on a mission and just wanted to do it!”
Simone said, “We bought lots of things including notepads, pens, earrings and bangles for the tombola.”
Tirelessly
Once they got home they tirelessly wrapped every prize in girly paper then hid them
deep within shredded newspaper in one of Simone’s big pink storage boxes.
Then the enterprising pair took to the streets, with Simone’s little brother Harry (7) carrying the money box, and asked neighbours to try their luck in
the tombola. Simone said, “When we said what we were doing lots of people put extra money in and some gave us tubs of change they’d collected.”
When it came to the tombola, Molly revealed, “Most people cheated and looked!”
Proud dad Derek said, “It would have been easier just to have given their savings but they were determined to do more
and it snowballed from there.”
Simone’s mum, Donna added, “We’ve always taught the girls the importance of helping others less fortunate than themselves.”
In an entrepreneurial scheme that would put Sir Alan Sugar’s grown up Apprentices to shame Molly and Simone doubled their initial investment and raised
£40.
Molly and Simone enthused, “We only expected to raise £15, maybe £20, so we were happy when we counted £40.”
The girls wouldn’t reveal what they plan next — although a glint in Molly’s eye suggested there’s plenty of fun ahead.
 IF YOU have a special reason for contributing to or raising funds
for our appeal then we’d like to hear from you. It could be that you’d like to thank caring staff for the treatment they’ve provided in your hour of need.
Or perhaps a relative spent time in one of Scotland’s children’s hospitals and the experience has left a lasting impression
on your family’s life.
Whatever the reason, please let us know.
We’d be delighted to share your experiences with our readers.
And, who knows, it may inspire others to follow in your
fundraising footsteps.
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