THE Sentinel has once again teamed up with Barclays to reward schools in North Staffordshire and South Cheshire.

All primary, secondary, special schools and colleges have been invited to take part in the Class Act campaign, in a bid to win one of three £5,000 prizes.

Teachers nominated projects at their school which are in need of funding. The nominations have now closed.

A panel of judges will decide on the three winners, and staff and students from the winning schools/colleges will be invited to a gala event in January.

Kathy Brown, Barclays' Community Relations Manager, said: "At Barclays, we take our responsibilities seriously. We're really proud of our leading community investment programme which added up to £52.4 million in 2007."

In 2007, more than 43,000 of Barclays' staff were involved in fund-raising or volunteering in their communities.

Barclays supported over 7,000 charities around the world. Over the last five years Barclays has raised £60 million for its favourite charities with help and matched funding.