Wirral school reveals ambitious plan to raise £3.75m for Alder Hey Imagine Appeal

Nov 18 2009 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

A WIRRAL school has unveiled ambitious plans to raise £3.75m or Alder Hey’s Imagine Appeal.

Calday Grange Grammar School, in West Kirby, aims to use a 1,000-mile sponsored relay run from Land’s End to John O’Groats as one of the key fund- raising events.

The school chose the Imagine Appeal after one of its students, Matthew Cullen, was diagnosed with leukaemia and began receiving treatment at the Liverpool hospital.

The idea for the fundraising – known as LeJog – was dreamed up by PE teacher David Wilkes. Last night, deputy head Tim Sinnott told a meeting at the school: “PE teacher David Wilkes and a couple of friends were devastated by the news about Matthew Cullen, .

“In a far off muddy field a year ago, an idea was hatched – run the whole length of the country, for charity from Land’s End to John O’ Groats.

“As 2011 is the 375th birthday of the school, we decided to do it then – and have lots of fundraising events.”

Pairs of runners covering over 500 stages, of approximately two miles each, will complete the route of more than 1,000 miles.

The Imagine Appeal at Alder Hey was set up with the backing of John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, to help raise money to aid research into the treatment of childhood cancers.

l To start the fundraising, the school has organised a Christmas Market flight to Cologne, on Saturday, December 5, for £175, and needs 200 people to fill the flight – all profits to the fund.

For more details, see www.calday-lejog.org/site/