An Abbots Langley school charity is in the running for a £10,000 prize, after being nominated for a nationwide competition.

Thanks to votes from the public, Breakspeare School Parent Staff Association has been shortlisted from hundreds of entries for the “Be a Local Star” charity competition.

Organised by Douwe Egberts, the scheme gives charities with an annual income of under £50,000 a chance to win one of three prizes of £10,000, £5,000 or £3,000.

Charities were able to enter their projects into one of three categories.

A "Re-fill charity project", low on funding and needs replenishing; a "Re-use charity project", facilities that are falling into disrepair and that needs cash to restore; and a "Re-Cycle charity project", transforms something unusable into something useful, such as wasteland into community allotments.

Breakspeare School Parent Staff Association will now compete against 14 other nationwide organisations in the "Re-use category", for the final leg of the competition in the coming weeks.

The charity is hoping to supply equipment and additional activities not normally provided by the education authority to Breakspeare School pupils, which caters for children with severe learning difficulties.

If the organisation wins the competition, it hopes to use the cash to refurbish the disabled changing rooms in the local swimming pool, and improve disabled access to the pool.

June Wilkinson, spokeswoman for Breakspeare School Parent Staff Association, said: “We are delighted and thrilled to be shortlisted for the Douwe Egberts 'Be a Local Star’ campaign.

“The money will make a huge contribution to the refurbishment of our local swimming pool and changing rooms to make them more accessible for our disabled children.”