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20 November 2020
A Northamptonshire school have raised close to £6,000 in support of Pancreatic Cancer UK and their Junior School Head Teacher Chris Bailey, by holding their first ever ‘Purple Day’. November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and Northampton High School in Hardingstone have been undertaking various fundraising activities by tackling the charities ‘Challenge 24’ initiative.
In the UK, 24 people die from Pancreatic Cancer every day, and Challenge 24 inspires participants to complete 24 activities you love for 24 days. Starting on the 1st November, the school has seen members of its community make and sell face masks, run 24 minutes every day, sell 24 homemade preserves, play 24 different songs on the flute and lots more.
On Thursday 19th November, the school took this one step further by holding ‘Purple Day’, a day in which the school turned purple and came together to enjoy fun tasks, take on gruelling challenges, and ultimately raise awareness and show support. The 19th is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and the day of challenges begun early with the school’s Director of Sport running 24 miles around the school playing field! After completing the exhausting run, Mrs Emma Blake continued on to complete a full marathon – completing the task in 4 hours and 4 minutes – a PB! Students of all ages of the school community, ranging from aged 2 in the Nursery to aged 18 in the Sixth Form, undertook their own set of challenges, which included the Year 6 students taking on 24 physical and fun activities ranging from ‘hook a duck’ to ‘netball shots’. It wasn’t just the school’s current students who got involved during the day, with Northampton High’s 2020 Year 13 Leavers gathering for an online Zoom call to catch up, but to also discuss cancer, and how they can raise awareness and help educate those around them.
With fundraising efforts and Challenge 24 activities sent to continue throughout the month, the school community continues to come together in support of their Head. With the fundraising total standing at £5,937 at time of writing – smashing the school’s original goal of £1,000 – Northampton High are looking to finish Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month strongly and help this amazing charity as much as they can.
