Cycling enthusiasts in Yarm have embarked on a gruelling, week-long challenge at Yarm Preparatory School, in the name of charity.
The school undertook its very own ‘Le Tour D’Afrique’ challenge to support Sport Relief (14-18 March), which involved clocking up miles on spinning bikes, with the target of cycling 2,000km and raising more than £4,000 for the charity over the course of the week – which would eclipse the total the school raised for Sport Relief two years ago.
Yarm Preparatory School supports educational charity, The Mustard Seed Project, which is based in Kenya, and, in recognition of the project, plan to cycle the equivalent distance from Mombasa to Dar e Salaam, in Tanzania, and into neighbouring countries.
Staff, pupils, friends and families have been taking part in the spin-a-thon from 7.30am-5pm, including two parents, Mrs Debs White and Mrs Karen Dunn, cycling 200km in one morning between them.
In addition, the school has hosted a number of charitable events throughout the week, including a mile-long run, which the entire school – staff and pupils – participated in.
Bill Sawyer, Head of Yarm Preparatory School, said: “Helping our children understand the mutual benefits of supporting charitable causes is fundamental to our ethos: Educating for Life. As such, our pupils raise funds for many charitable causes on an international, national and regional scale through events that they organise and lead themselves, which includes Sport Relief.
“Sport lends itself perfectly to supporting common aims and our unique Le Tour D’Afrique is a healthy and fun way for the Yarm School community to work together to support a very worthy cause.”