Leigh primary school teachers to walk nine miles at 4:30am for brilliant charity
A Wigan borough school will be taking part in a full day of walking and activities to raise money for a much-loved charity.
Westleigh St Paul’s Primary School have previously raised money for Wigan and Leigh Hospice through their annual Purple Day fund-raiser.
These have involved wearing purple clothes or putting something purple in their hair to represent the colour of the hospice.
This year, the school will be partaking in a whole lot of walking to raise as much money as possible, starting with a 4.30am trek involving a group of teachers.
Kate Linge, a Year 1 class teacher, said: “Quite a few teachers live far away, so I set the challenge of the staff walking into work that morning before we come to school.
"We’re meeting at Windy Arbour at 4.30am and then it’s going to take us roughly three and a half hours, so we‘re hoping to get to school for 8.30am.”
The teachers will be walking through Garswood, Bryn, Platt Bridge, Bickershaw, Hindley Green and then Westleigh.
The entire school will be decorated for the day with purple banners and balloons for Wigan and Leigh Hospice.
Founded in 1982, Wigan and Leigh Hospice provides free palliative and end-of-life care for adults. The hospice offers a 14-bed inpatient unit and home care support to patients and families across the borough.
On Thursday July 9, the hospice asks everyone across Wigan and Leigh to wear something purple to show their support, however, the school has chosen July 10 for their special day.
As well as the teachers doing their walk, the students will also be participating.
Ms Linge said: “We’ve got a big school field so we’ve set them a challenge too. The younger children are going to try and walk three kilometres and the older children will walk five to six kilometres around the field.”
The school decided to set up a Just Giving page to raise money and have already received £1,105 without starting the walk yet. This is amazing work for a school with only 210 students.
To donate to Westleigh St Paul’s Primary School fund-raiser, head to: https://www.justgiving.com/page/westleighstpaulsprimary?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL