Villagers in Kennington have raised more than £16,000 in a year to help former child slaves in India.
The charity Kennington Overseas Aid has raised £16,172 to support a project run by the Oxford-based Integrated Village Development Trust.
The money -- a record amount in the charity's 34-year history -- will support Garhwa Community College in India. The college provides training and practical skills to teenagers, some of whom have worked as slave labour in carpet factories.
Children, some as young as five, are sold by their poverty-stricken parents.
But once they reach 16, they are often turned out from the factories without any education and left to fend for themselves.
The college aims to teach them a trade so they can provide for themselves. The money raised by KOA will be used to set up a revolving loan fund to help the young people set up their own businesses.
KOA information officer Charles Swaisland said: "The scheme should prove a continuing boon to the former child slaves of Jharkhand."
The money was presented to the trust, which was set up 10 years ago by Michael and Margaret Wright, of Oxford, at the KOA annual general meeting.
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