Heathcote pupil Max goes that extra mile to help school project

So what's the challenge?
Max Footman.Max Footman.
Max Footman.

Young pupils at Heathcote Primary School were set a fundraising target to help build new facilities - but they quite literally went the extra miles to smash all 
expectations.

The school and the Friends of Heathcote Primary School organised a sponsored Virtual Marathon, to get the pupils active, where they had the month of June to do 26.2 miles (or equivalent) of exercise.

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They had hoped to raise £500 from all pupil donations towards the creation of a ‘Heathcote Primary School Kitchen Garden and Farm Shop’ alongside a ‘Forest School’.

The headline mentions Max - what did he do?

Not content with this target, young Max Footman - who is in reception class level - raised more than £600 all by himself by completing the equivalent of more than two marathons.

That is amazing. How did he do that?

Max and his family put 
together videos explaining what he was doing and asking people to support him.

In total the five-year-old completed the equivalent of 61 miles and managed to raise £635.

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Together, all of the pupils at the school managed to raise £1,741.80.

What did he say about it?

Max said: “I’m happy and so proud I’m saving the hedgehogs, porcupines, otters, and owls.”

Karen Footman, Max’s mum, said: “I’m one of the Friends, and I set up a crowdfunding page to support the kids’ sponsorship efforts as many of us have family and friends at a distance who still want to support us.

“Max feels very passionate about creating the Forest School and taking care of woodland animals, so much so that he has really gone for it during the marathon.

“He did 61 miles (equivalent) of activity.

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“Max wanted to do everything he could to raise money. I suggested we make a video so he could tell people about it and ask for their help.

“The next thing he was scooting to school, on his ‘marathon,’ where he made the video, talking about porcupines and otters, hedgehogs and squirrels.

“He did such a great job of telling his story, that we shared it quickly and the 
response to him was wonderful.

“We are immensely proud of Max. His commitment to what’s important to him is extraordinary and his ability to make a connection with other people, to they extent they will sponsor him when they don’t even know him, is inspiring.

I bet his school were delighted...

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Lara Jeffries, headteacher at Heathcote Primary School, said: “We are enormously proud of Max and all the other children at a Heathcote Primary School for raising so much money to go towards our Forest School and Kitchen Garden.

“This is exactly what we are all about at Heathcote, developing engaging environments to support exciting learning and fostering a sense of responsibility in our pupils.

“We will now begin the groundwork in our wild area, plant more trees, dig paths, create raised beds and in the autumn term one of our brilliant teaching assistants, Laura Everett, will begin her training to become a full forest school leader.”

The team at Heathcote Primary are hoping to raise £10,000 for the project and are also looking for landscapers, designers and people who do groundwork to offer their services to help them create their Kitchen Garden and Forest School.

To get in touch call 01926 290330 or email: [email protected]