St Philip’s Catholic Primary School staff take on Leeds 10K Challenge for charity

Kirstie Chilvers, Darren Kinder, Stephen Longfellow and Sam Fern

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A team of nine members of staff from St Philip’s Catholic Primary School in Middleton will be running the Leeds 10K this year to raise money for some of the world’s poorest communities.

Hannah Taylor, Stephen Longfellow, Fran Morland, Sam Fern, Kirstie Chilvers, Darren Kinder, Aaron Millls, Martyne Jone and Michelle Fox will all be running to raise money for Catholic aid agency CAFOD on 20 July 2014.

Staff and pupils alike have been supporting Hannah and the rest of the team with words of encouragement and by donating to their fundraising efforts.

Hannah Taylor, 33, senior assistant head teacher at St Philip’s, said: “The children couldn't believe it when I told them I would be taking part as I'm not one of the more sporty teachers. They are really encouraging and have agreed to help me train by doing some running during the weeks leading up to the 10K.

“We started training over a month ago but have been getting psychologically prepared for a little longer. Fran, Martyne and I are the beginners group but we are pleased with what we have achieved so far. We are now able to run and walk about 2K in about 20 minutes and are not feeling too exhausted when we get back to school. Running together is a great motivation and we all really support each other. The beginners group set each other targets and work hard to achieve these on our runs.”

The team have already had their first injury with Fran Morland, a year 4 teacher, breaking two bones in her hand when she fell during one of the team’s training runs. Despite her injury Fran continued to train.

Ben Oldham, CAFOD manager for Leeds, said: “We’re really proud of Hannah and all the other members of the St Philip’s Leeds 10K team. It’s inspiring that they’ve set themselves this challenge to help improve the lives for people living in poverty around the world.”