Staff from Gorse Hill Primary School completed the 13.1-mile Swindon Half Marathon following months of training.
Teachers Louise Evans, Millie Hutchinson, Brandon Ricketts, Teri Pettett and Andy Williams were joined by school principal Candida Hutchinson for the challenge.
The group crossed the finish line in times ranging from two to three hours, with colleagues and pupils cheering them on along the route.
Their efforts raised more than £1,000 for Society Without Abuse (SWA), which supports adults and children affected by domestic abuse in Swindon.
Louise Evans said:
“As a team, we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved together. Three of us had never run before and the other two had never run this far, so training together and then completing the Swindon Half has been a real achievement.
“It has also been an opportunity for us to show our support for SWA, a vital local charity, to continue conversations around healthy relationships and be role models for our pupils.
“We wanted to show them that they can achieve whatever they put their minds to, while helping them develop into compassionate and responsible people.”
The fundraising challenge has a close connection to Gorse Hill Primary, which is an SWA HOPE School.
Through its HOPE Award, the charity trains school staff to identify and support children who may be at risk of domestic abuse.
It also provides age-appropriate lessons about healthy relationships and helps schools establish support for families who may be experiencing abuse.
Louise said taking on the half marathon was also a way for staff to demonstrate the school’s values of courage, appreciation, respect and excellence.
She added:
“We wanted to show the importance of being part of our local community and helping others, particularly a charity like SWA, which does so much to support our community.”
SWA, originally founded as Swindon Women’s Aid in 1974, provides support for victims and survivors of domestic abuse, including specialist services for children and young people.
Emma Maclennan, Children and Families Manager for SWA, said:
“We are so proud of Gorse Hill Primary School for taking on such a massive challenge and their efforts will make an amazing difference in helping us continue our work supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse.”
