Students from Banbury area school complete half marathon fundraising challenge for Oxfordshire Mind charity

More than 30 students from Wilson House at Bloxham School completed a half marathon on Sunday May 16 in aid of Oxfordshire Mind.

Mr Scott de Weymarn, assistant housemaster of Wilson House, said: "This year the boys selected the charity Oxfordshire Mind as their charity of choice for this year’s fundraising.

"The half marathon challenge is something that all the boys have bought into and really pushed to make it successful. Even boys who were unable to run, chipped in by marshalling the course and made it really feel like the house was pulling together."

The team have raised £2,576 for Oxfordshire Mind.

Athough they have smashed their £2,000 target, there is still time to donate on their JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wilson-house-for-mind

Early morning training sessions for the half marathon began at the start of the summer term with Mr Scott de Weymarn helped prepare the students for the physical challenge, and they ran, regardless of the weather conditions.

Jack added: "I personally benefitted from the training sessions as it showed me the challenge I would have to face in the coming days before the run.”

Wilson House Captain Jack Dunk said: "We were so proud of each other for pushing ourselves to the best of our abilities and we accomplished something great.

"We chose this charity because we believe that no one should have to suffer in silence and that everybody should be allowed to get the help they need when enough is enough."

Mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems and lobbies government and local authorities on their behalf. This has obviously been an area of great concern during this lockdown period and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr de Weymarn added: I couldn’t be prouder of the boys and what they have achieved for a fantastic charity."