Leighton Buzzard Brooklands Middle School staff run 10k for Cancer Research

Brooklands Middle School runners Darren Ward, Gayle Raybould, Jack Pakes, Emma Hays, Ryan Penn, Katie King and Toby Fullwood recently embarked on a 10k challenge to help the charity during the pandemic.

The staff members raised a fantastic £1,603 and wish to say a “big thank you” to their families and the school parents who kindly donated.

Gayle Raybould, SENCO, said: “I saw an advert for the 10k from the charity and asked who wanted to join. We’d seen so much publicity about cancer charities, hearing that support has dwindled because of Covid, so we wanted to help a charity that might be struggling.

“We set up a WhatsApp group to message each other about training. At the moment [because of the pandemic] we are missing the sense of community, so this allowed us to feel connected to each other, and the school really got behind us.”

Commenting on their personal successes, Gayle added: “There were 11,000 people from all across the country taking part, and Toby and I got in the top 500 with times of 49 minutes and 52 minutes!”

Three of the Brooklands team completed their 10k run in Leighton Buzzard two at Willen Lake, one at Newton Leys and another in Bedford.

There were also other personal successes. Gayle said: “Some of us had to train for the run. Emma, who had never run a 10k before, came home afterwards to find her family with a little finishing line and champagne!”

Meanwhile, pupils are now taking on a London to Tokyo challenge, where collectively the school will walk the distance to the Japanese capital. The challenge has been organised head of PE Michelle Tipper, to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Gayle added: “It’s been lovely getting to know the key worker children really, really well. It’s been a steep learning curve for the staff, but the children have really enjoyed communicating with their teachers online.

“A big thank you to all the teachers who took part in the race and to all our sponsors.”

To donate: https://www.virtualwinterrun.co.uk/fundraisers/brooklandsschool