A brother and sister from Immanuel College raised over £13,000 for Camp Simcha to mark their bar and bat mitzvah.

Bella and Jacob Sarano, aged 12 and 13, did a sponsored 12- kilometre-trek in Argentina and also asked for donations to the charity instead of gifts.

They then volunteered in the Camp Simcha office so that they could understand more about the charity’s working providing practical and therapeutic services supporting families coping with serious childhood illness.

The siblings, from Brondesbury Park, North London, asked for the money to go towards Camp Simcha’s Keshet summer scheme. Keshet enables the seriously ill children to have as much summer fun as any other kids, but with full medical support.

Bella said: ‘We chose Camp Simcha because a family friend has been supported by them while they were being treated for cancer.’

This week Bella and Jacob came along to the Keshet ‘Big Day Out’ to Gulliver’s World, which is a day organised for all family members, as well as the ill children.

Jacob said: ‘A lot of the money we raised went to this outing, for about 200 people. When I was doing the trek I tried to imagine what the money was going towards, so I was so happy to see for myself and it really wowed me.’

Bella added: ‘I spoke to a couple of children who had sisters or brothers who were in hospital and they said they rarely get to do anything like this so the day out was really special for them.’

Chief executive of Camp Simcha Neville Goldschneider said: ‘Bella and Jacob literally went the extra mile for Camp Simcha and the money they raised has really made a big difference to so many ill children and their siblings and parents. We are so grateful for their support and thrilled they spent some time learning about all the services Camp Simcha offers, so that they could see just how impactful their efforts have been.’