Christ Church of England Primary School in Newark staff take on the Lake District Three Peaks challenge
Staff at a primary school have taken on a climbing challenge with a few surprises along the way to raise funds.
Six members of staff at Christ Church of England Primary School in Newark decided to take on the Lake District Three Peaks.
Within 24 hours, the group climbed Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England at 978metres above sea level, Skiddaw, which is 931metres above sea level and is the sixth highest mountain in England, and Helvellyn at 950metres above sea level.
Lucy Howson, Kristy Sutterby, Izzy Wheeldon, Harriet Jackson, Stacey Armstrong and Charlotte Oxley started at Scafell, followed by Skiddaw on Friday, August 2 and the challenge was completed on Saturday, August 3 at Helvellyn.
The aim was to raise funds towards educational trips so that the children can further enhance their learning outside of the classroom environment, to provide outdoor equipment for the new outdoor learning programme OPAL and to ensure that the school always has food in the cupboards to provide breakfast to children that regularly turn up to school hungry.
Lucy Howson said: “Some of us gained injuries on our way down the first mountain and we thought we may have to bow out early but we soldiered on and all six of us managed to make it up and down all three mountains.
“We worked well as a team and supported each other by making sure that everyone was well and leaving no man behind.
“I think we can all agree that the challenge was extremely tough but to reach the top of each mountain felt like such an achievement.”
Throughout the climbing, each one of the six took a surprise so that every few hours, the group had something to look forward to motivate them to keep going.
The surprises included sweet cones, a homemade rocky road, a mini canvas to sketch the views and toasted marshmallows and prosecco to celebrate once they reached the bottom of the final mountain.
They have created a second JustGiving page to raise funds for the cause as the online pages are only open for 120 days. The first page raised £1,109.59.
The current JustGiving page has a target of £2,000 and people can donate at https://shorturl.at/02CCi
Mrs Howson added: “Even though the climb was tough, we all feel so proud of each other and have built a new bond and got to know each other so much better.
“We are going into the new school year in September feeling stronger as a team and more positive about the new academic year.
“We can’t wait to be able to see the children benefit from the funds that we have raised.”