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Whole-Academy Walk Raises £11,000 for Cransley Hospice

KSA’s first whole-academy walk has raised more than £11,000 for Cransley Hospice – smashing the original target of £5,000.

Secondary pupils walked a six-mile route around Kettering while primary children either completed laps of the sports field or a walk to Wicksteed Park. The event on Friday 19th October - coupled with a trial walk in July and mufti donations - raised £11,110, with money still coming in. In total, 1,600 people took part, walking a total of around 6,600 miles - an average of four miles per person.

Year 7 pupil Joe Watson raised £320 thanks to generous donations from family friends. When Joe was five, his dad received support from the palliative team in the weeks before his death from a brain tumour. Joe said: "I didn't think I would raise even £100 but my brother gave me £70 and it just went from there. I think the school should do it every year because you can help people just by walking."

James Harris, in Year 8, also raised £320 after his dad took his sponsor form into work at IVG White in Burton Latimer. He said: "When he told people at work what I was doing, he found out that a lot of them have had family members in Cransley Hospice. I didn't expect to raise much and I didn't know what to say when I realised how much they'd sponsored me. I enjoyed doing the walk because you know you're helping people when they're at their worst point."

Shanie Tyrrell was another pupil who managed to raise a substantial amount after collecting £210.

In primary, the pupils who raised significant amounts were Kasie Milne (£106), Harvey Haycock (£95) and Vidonia BeJesus (£90).

Principal Martin Campbell revealed the final total in assemblies at both phases this morning, where pupils cheered and clapped with delight. He told them: "We thank you not just for the effort of walking but for collecting sponsorship - you should be very pleased and proud."

Diana Patrick, the hospice's fundraiser, joined the assembly to hear what the final amount was. She told pupils: "Fundraisers aren't often stumped for words and how do I say thank you for this? It's absolutely amazing. You have embraced the hospice and also learnt about the work that goes on there, and that's very important. From all the families we're looking after - thank you very much.

"We are thrilled that KSA has chosen Cransley Hospice as a local charity to embrace with such a major fundraising initiative. It has been a delight to work with the school as a whole."

Earlier this year, five pupils visited the hospice to find out more about the work that goes on there and they later shared what they had learnt with the rest of their houses. In today's assembly, they read out an article written by the hospice's patron, Reverend Dr John Smith, which was published in the Evening Telegraph:

"We were sitting in a queue of traffic in Deeble Road when we saw hundreds of school children, of all ages and dressed in mufti, some eccentrically.  The older ones were clearly looking after the younger ones, but what were they doing?  And what school were they from.

"The answer came when we saw some of them walking past our home in Barton Seagrave.  They were all walking for Cransley Hospice.  And the school? Kettering Science Academy, the whole school including the very young from Year 6 of the junior department.

"I know one of the objectives would have been to raise money through sponsorship for the hospice.  I say a very, very big thank you for that.  But I also know that the pupils will have become aware of all that Cransley is trying to do for the community - caring for the very sick and those with difficult symptoms and, yes, caring for the dying too.

"I am glad that a handful of the older students have visited Cransley Hospice and learnt about how we care for the patients and their families and that caring about other people and valuing them as individuals is one of the most important things that we do.  In a society that often seems to shout, "me, me me" it is good to know that the opposite is true, "you, you, you, it's all about you, not me".

"The word hospice literally means a resting place on a journey, a journey that, in the end, we must all make.  The students at Kettering Science Academy, and all our schools are on a journey too.  A journey that will have untold possibilities, a journey of joy and, at times, intense sadness, a journey that is full of wonder, of the life that they all have and they will all lead.

"A school, a walk, a journey, it all fits together - a life."

Running totals for houses:
SECONDARY

Da Vinci: £1142.30
Franklin: £1109.60
Hawking: £885.90
Sanger: £965.00
Socrates: £1026.20

PRIMARY
Hawking: £243.50
Franklin: £305.89
Sanger: £316.07
Socrates: £383.50
Da Vinci: £384.82