Northampton school raises more than £7K for cancer charity after teacher’s diagnosis

A Northampton school has raised more than £7,000 for a cancer charity after a teacher was diagnosed with the disease.

Pupils and teachers alike from Northampton High School in Hardingstone took part in a number of challenges and hosted a ‘Purple Day’ as part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

The school’s junior headteacher, Chris Bailey, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which has spread to his liver.A JustGiving page was set up for the 40-year-old dad and has already reached more than £60,000 after friends, family and supporters took on a huge fundraising drive.However, students at the school wanted to do more by taking on Pancreatic Cancer UK’s ‘challenge 24’ initiative.

The challenge inspires participants to complete 24 activities for 24 days, so starting on November 1, 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 more.

Last Thursday (November 19), the school took this one step further by holding a ‘Purple Day’, where the school turned purple and more challenges were faced.

The school’s director of sport ran 24 miles around the school playing field and continued on to complete a full marathon – completing the task in four hours and four minutes.

Students of all ages of the school community, including last year’s sixth form leavers over Zoom, also took part in a range of activities.

With fundraising efforts set to continue throughout the month, the total that already stands at £7,172 is expected to climb.

Visit the school’s fundraising team page here.

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