Leamington man’s saintly efforts to help school children

Patrick Turpin, whose daughter Charlize, six, and son Ciaran, five, attend St Patrick’s School in Cashmore Avenue, has dusted off his trainers to run the Great North Run for the second time in 12 years.

The 37-year-old former soldier is taking part in the half-marathon event to raise money for both St Patrick’s and it’s twin school St Peter’s in war-torn Sierra Leone.

Mr Turpin said: “It’s just a lottery, it’s just unlucky the children at St Peter’s have been born into poverty in a country that has been hit by war.

“They won’t get to see the standard of education other children do and their lives won’t be as enriched.”

Located in the city of Bo, St Peter’s has 800 pupils who are crammed into less than a handful of classrooms.

The school has tin roofs and no air conditioning and it’s teachers are unpaid for the first two years of their career before they pass a probationary period.

Pupils’ parents have to pay for their children’s equipment and even pens and paper are in short supply.

Mr Turpin said; “I would ask parents to think in terms of looking at what they would expect for their children.

“If they had the opportunity to raise money and awareness for their child’s education what would they do?”

The Great North run takes place in Newcastle on Sunday September 18.

More details of Mr Turpin’s fundraising efforts are online.