Staff members at St Mark’s primary school have been raising the funds for the hospital charity after brave primary 1 pupil Ace Ward was diagnosed with leukaemia at the start of the year.
Proud to fly the flag for their school community, the dedicated team launched the ‘4,000K In May’ fundraising challenge on 1 May.
After spending 8 weeks in hospital receiving life-saving treatment, five-year-old school hero Ace – the inspiration behind the campaign – is now back home to recharge his batteries as he continues his fight against leukaemia. Head Teacher, Gemma Strain came up with the staff fundraising idea when lockdown first began as a way for her colleagues to keep active during their planned daily exercise. She said: “When Ace became unwell in January, everyone at St Mark’s felt heartbroken. We wanted to do everything we could as a school community to support Ace and his siblings during this difficult time. “The Covid-19 school closures meant that our six week Lent fundraising programme, which was planned by the staff and children, had to be cut short, that’s when I came up with ‘4,000K In May" challenge for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity.”
“A big part of our school’s ethos is looking after other and ‘4,000K In May’ was a fitting fundraising solution for us all to keep Ace in our thoughts and prayers, help our pupils to come to terms with Ace’s journey and raise funds to help those helping the Ward family.”
Staff members and pupils set their goal to walk, jog or run a total of 4000km during the month of May. By day 11, the team had already clocked 2,000km and the rainy weather didn’t slow down the momentum as staff members exceeded their collective 4,000km target last week. Raising over £3,500 and counting so far, colleagues are now pushing hard to smash their renewed target of 5,000km by the end of this week.
Gemma added: “As a school, we are always looking to encourage activities that help promote positive mental health and physical wellbeing and during times of uncertainty like these, it’s been especially important to work together to achieve this. “I would like to thank everyone who has participated, donated and played their part to help us raise the vital funds for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. Everyone has been very supportive of one another and we have all enjoyed making the most of our planned exercise during lockdown for such a special cause.” Councillor John Bell, Cabinet Member for Education said: “Thank you to all of our dedicated staff members and the extended school community for their outstanding efforts in raising funds for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. “It is more important than ever for us to all remain connected while taking care of our health and wellbeing, and for St Mark’s primary school to achieve such a fantastic fundraising milestone is a real credit to the all of the team who have continued to remain upbeat and active during lockdown.
“We are all rooting for Ace and his family as he continues to smile and inspire us all with his bravery and determination.”
The school has been keeping pupils and parents updated of their success via Twitter @StMarksIrvine and highlights have been shared using the hashtags #TEAMACEY #4000KINMAY
If you would like to support #TEAMACEY you can donate now via the #4000KINMAY Just Giving page: https://tinyurl.com/y7h7v5tw