On Monday May 24, all of the children and staff at Brixington Primary Academy took part in a Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK.
The Year 4 children, as part of the school's commitment to contributing to the community, planned an event that would test out their athletic skills they had been working on in PE.
A track was set out around the school's large playing fields and the whole school were challenged to run as far as they could in a given time.
Before the event, the school invited families to use this as an opportunity to celebrate and remember loved ones, and to make donations to support the crucial work of Cancer Research UK.
Brixington parents are always extremely generous, having previously raised huge amounts for such charities as the Devon Air Ambulance and Children in Need, but the response from the community for the Race for Life event was overwhelming! Donations began flying in over the weekend and the total amount raced up towards £1,000 by Monday lunchtime. The money kept rolling in as the children battled monsoon conditions and splashed through the mud for as many laps as they could. By the time the event had finished, the total had neared £2,000, and this soon became £3,000 as children shared their stories with relatives over the next few days.
It was a very emotional day, with many children and staff running with a particular friend or family member in mind.
Head of teaching and learning Stuart Dyer said: “We're very proud that we were able to learn about the powerful themes of grief, loss, hope and adversity, in a way that celebrated life and brought the community together.
“Many children ran with the names of friends and family-members on their backs, and shared stories of how Cancer had touched their lives. It was a brilliant sporting event, too, with some fierce competition on show despite the horrendous weather! We're so grateful for the support and generosity of our families.”