Pupils run equivalent of three marathons
Money raised for hospitals charity
KEY worker children from Priory School ran the equivalent of three marathons to raise hundreds of pounds for Portsmouth Hospitals Charity to support their fight against Covid-19.
Starting last Monday, 10 children covered a distance of 80.67 miles over three days with staff adding an additional 35 miles.
With many of their parents working in the NHS it was an initiative particularly close to the children’s hearts.
Year 7 pupil, Grace Scholes, 12, said: ‘I did the run to raise money for the NHS. We are all going through a hard time and me and the others wanted to help.
‘I found it hard but powered through for the NHS.’
Classmate, Ollie Arthur, 12, added: ‘I wanted to take part in the run because I wanted to help the NHS and to keep fit.’
The idea for the run came from the children themselves who wanted to show their support for people fighting the pandemic in Portsmouth.
Pastoral outreach worker at the school, Katherine Hughes, said: ‘The children wanted to do something local as it’s a situation which really resonates with our key worker children who have parents fighting the pandemic.
‘It was whilst out running with the children during a PE lesson that they came up with the idea of a sponsored run.’
With the school still closed to most pupils an additional 40 children at home have also set their own running, cycling and skating challenges to raise money to support the initiative.
Year 8 pupil, Nellie Fraser, 13, has been taking part in a daily cycling challenge.
She said: ‘The NHS do a great job but don't have enough money so I wanted to do my bit to help.
‘ love cycling and it's great to be doing rides with my Mum.’
Headteacher, Stewart Vaughan, who himself ran four miles, said he was “unbelievably proud” of pupils’ efforts and feels the initiative has really brought the school together.
Mr Vaughan added: ‘Giving pupils something to focus on is beneficial for both the community but also for individual wellbeing.’
The pupils have set up a JustGiving page and hope to raise £3,000.
Victory Trophies in Fratton donated speciallymade medals for the children.