Staff, parents and carers from Latchford St James CofE Primary School in Warrington, have raised £6,500 towards school trips by completing the Three Peaks Challenge.
They took on the feat after headteacher Andy Hayes was faced with the prospect of dropping educational visits completely in order to reduce school spending.
The group started at 4pm on 28th May at Ben Nevis in Scotland and finished slightly over the 24 hour target (due to closures on the M8 in Glasgow) at Snowdon in Wales the following day.
Headteacher Andy Hayes said: “It was an incredibly tough challenge but the team worked together brilliantly well. Our fundraising has currently hit the £6,500 mark with our GoFundMe page reaching £3,500.
“We are expecting more money to come through in the coming weeks. This has surpassed our target of £6,000 and we are so grateful to the school community for their support.”
The money raised will go to subsidising educational visit for parents of pupils across the whole school, or towards a school minibus so transport costs can be cut on school trips.
The school has also received donations from local businesses and companies that pupils’ parents work for. One of the parent team members, Andy Grayson, works for Brakes and the company donated £500 towards the target.
Another member of the parent team, Frankie Bird, works for Royal Mail and received a donation of £250. Andy Hayes says that the challenge has really brought the school community closer.
The children also worked together in their classes to raise more money and caught the attention of BBC’s Newsround who came into school to film the children completing their fundraisers.
Each class completed their own challenge towards the cause. Highlights included a bake sale, break the rules day, sponsored bleep test, danceathon, zumbathon and a sponsored walk. There was also a school disco, an Easter bingo event and a non-uniform day with the children raising around £2,000.
Andy added: “I am so proud of our amazing school community for coming together. It is a privilege to be the headteacher of this amazing school and with the money we have raised, more and more children can access school trips at an affordable cost to their parents/carers.”
The team that completed the Three Peaks Challenge were: Andy Hayes (headteacher), Grace Mellor (Year 3 teacher), Daz Muckley (assistant caretaker), Jack Muckley (former student), Frankie Bird and Andy Grayson (Parents) and Mike Sloan (supporter of the school). One of the governors, Colin Webb, drove the minibus for the team.
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