A FANTASTIC sporting effort saw school pupils raise thousands of pounds for charity.

Years seven and eight students at Harwich and Dovercourt High School took part in a Race for Life event in aid of Cancer Research UK on Monday and Tuesday.

They were encouraged to run or walk a distance of about five kilometres around the school field during their PE lesson in year group bubbles.

The school set a target of £300 but were blown away to see key stage three pupils alone have already raised more than £3,000.

Sophie Southgate, Head of Key Stage 3 PE at the school, organised the event.

She said: “Our youngsters are the generation who could see groundbreaking treatments and cures for cancer in their lifetime.

“They’re the rising stars who could be the researchers and lifesavers of tomorrow. By taking part in Race for Life and uniting together against cancer, all pupils were doing something really great.

“We haven't been able run an event like this for over a year and it was so nice to hold an important fundraising event.

“We were extremely lucky with the weather and all the pupils who took part put in 100 per cent effort.

“We had a couple of students who went above and beyond with fundraising - Nathan Lawes reaching nearly £500 and Liam Bretton reaching about £630 to name a couple.”

Following the event, staff collected all the numbers which pupils were wearing, which explained who they were taking part for.

Some students were doing it for family members or friends, while others took part on behalf of “everyone”. From this, a memorial board was created.

Miss Southgate added: “The event could not have run without help from the PE department and recently appointed head student Taylor Roberts.

“Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for their research, so we were really pleased to be able to hold an event like this at school.”