Pupils walk to New Zealand to raise money for children who have fallen behind during pandemic

By Toby Porter

Pupils of two schools are walking to Christchurch in New Zealand – and perhaps back again – all by the end of March to raise £14,000 for the children who have fallen behind during school closure.

The fundraiser by Christ Church and Holy Trinity Schools in Chelsea will also pay for  a summer term enrichment programme after being away from classes for three months.

They even have the Chelsea Pensioners involved.

So far they have completed almost 5,000 miles, so are a third of the way there with 200 people joining in.

Between the 1st and 31st March parents, children, families and friends are running, walking, cycling, skipping, hopping or crawling from Holy Trinity, Sloane Square to the other side of the planet, organised by the Christ Church & Holy Trinity Federation.

It will raise funds for:

• A heavily subsidised after school club for every child in every year group which amounts to 140 hours of extra fun for the children – at minimal cost to the parents.  The after school club activities will include cookery, board games, modelling and outdoor fun. Staffing costs and resources for these clubs tops £12,000.
• Specialist speakers and visitors in the school, for example Scientists or Artists in residence, costing £2,500.
• Subsidised Trips for every year group to take place in June and July. They hope to take the children to theatres, museums, exhibitions and even to the seaside as well as park trips and outdoor activities.  This will be at a cost of £500 per class, therefore approximately £7,000 in total.

You can access the fundraiser here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cchtvirtualwalk