Challenge raises £250 for the NHS

Abbey College students have boosted their wellbeing while raising more than £250 for the NHS.

Since schools closed on March 20, the college’s PE department has been setting weekly ‘lockdown’ challenges for students and staff, with their latest challenge supporting the NHS Charities Together campaign.

The challenges set so far have included using a hockey stick to do keepy uppys with a toilet roll, kicking a teabag into a mug, and spinning a basketball on one finger.

The PE department set these challenges using their Instagram account and asked students and staff to send in short videos of themselves completing the various challenges.

As part of their latest challenge, the department encouraged students and staff to take part in the Run 5, Donate 5 and Tag 5 trend, where members of the public were encouraged to use their daily exercise to run 5k and donate £5 to the NHS Charities Together campaign.

This proved popular with students and staff, and the college has now raised over £250 for NHS Charities.

Ben Pugh, Abbey College’s head of PE, said: “We know how important it is for students to keep active, both for their mental and physical health.

“The idea started with a few small challenges you could practice at home, but the enthusiasm from students has meant that we have now also raised a significant amount of money for charity.

“I am so proud of how well our school community has coped during this time.

“It’s been fantastic to see our students learning new skills and having a bit of fun to boost their mental health.”

To try out some of the challenges, go to www.instagram. com/abbeycollegepe/