A schoolmate’s good deed inspired a ten-year-old girl to help a charity.

Alaysia Glasford, a primary 6 pupil at Paget Primary School, handed $340 collected instead of Christmas gifts to the Bermuda Society for the Blind on Tuesday.

She said: “Every time I see a blind or visually impaired person walking along, I think to myself that I hope they get where they’re going safely, and I wish that they could see again.”

Alaysia was inspired by her schoolmate and friend, Sélah Wilson, who used her birthday to raise $500 for the Salvation Army.

Sélah’s good deed was reported in The Royal Gazette in September. Alaysia said: “I chose the Bermuda Society for the Blind because my auntie works there.”

The Warwick youngster wanted her donation to go towards “buying equipment for their clients”.

Dionne Glasford, her aunt, the office administrator at the society’s Beacon House headquarters in Hamilton, said she had often told Alaysia “there are a lot of vision-impaired people in Bermuda”.

Ms Glasford added that she had only found out about her niece’s decision a few days before Alaysia decided to hand the money over.

She said: “It touched my heart — Christmas money for a kid like Alaysia would usually mean games.

“I’m very proud of her, especially for donating to my charity.”

Billy Glasford, her father, admitted Alaysia’s decision came as a surprise and Mary Hogan, her mother, said it was “another proud notch on our belt”.

Dolores Glasford, Alaysia’s grandmother, admitted she had been sceptical — but was impressed that “she stuck to what she wanted to do”.

Clifton Lambert, 72, a society board member who has regained part of his sight thanks to a cornea transplant in his right eye, said Alaysia’s gift was “the most charitable thing any human being can do”.

Mr Lambert added: “I hope that when this hits the paper that it will inspire other children to think about the handicapped and the elderly.

“I have a lot of respect for this young person.”

Vince Godber, the society’s vision rehabilitation professional, said the donation came at a crucial time for the charity.

He said: “We are due to start a capital project to renovate the building — we are planning for a completely new rehabilitation centre to serve the whole of Bermuda.”

Mr Godber added there were about 2,000 visually impaired residents that the society was aware of, but the real number could be double that figure.