TWO Henley school students are ‘pulling’ together to raise cash for a cause close to their hearts.
Friends Grace Lessard and Charlotte Foss have pledged to row the length of the River Avon within six weeks to fund new equipment for Henley-in-Arden school.
And the girls, aged 13 and 12 from Hatton, already have the finishing line in sight – without even getting their feet wet.
They have clocked up nearly 50 miles of their combined 83-mile challenge and raised £1,200 of the £1,500 target.
It follows regular twice-weekly sessions on the rowing machines at the Everyone Active gym in Warwick.
Grace said: “At the end of last year we entered the south Warwickshire Rowing Competition for our school with no experience of rowing.
“We are very proud of where we placed but would like to improve for the next competition.
“We are therefore fundraising so our school can buy two rowing machines and other PE equipment.
“Doing this will not only benefit the school’s rowing teams but will enable all students at Henley to discover new sports and enable to PE department to widen its curriculum.”
Charlotte added: “We believe it is extremely important to keep fit, whether at home or at school as it helps improve the mental health and physical wellbeing of pupils.
“It gets students awake at the beginning and end of the day.
“We know it is important to look after your mental wellbeing because it improves learning skills and memory.
“It is also important that you broaden horizons for the future and by doing this we believe we can help the school.”
Joseph Roper, Henley-in-Arden School’s associate headteacher, said: “I am so proud of Grace and Charlotte for their inspiring fundraising efforts for the school – to help us purchase facilities that will further benefit the students.
“They have shown resilience, kindness and community sprit throughout their time at Henley so far and this is a great continuation of this. Well done girls.”
Visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Gracie-Charlotte to donate.