12hrs of
Sport 2019
On Friday 6th December, Ken Stimpson Community School hosted its third annual 12 hours of sport. This year the event attracted 133 students from years 7, 8 & 9. The 12 hour challenge requires participants to arrive at the school at 7am and complete a range of different sports for 12 straight hours.
The events included trampolining, badminton, dodgeball, basketball and football. The students at KSCS through their sports marathon managed to raise an amazing amazing £2700 for The Malcolm Whales Foundation.
At Ken Stimpson, over the past 3 years the school and The Malcolm Whales Foundation has developed a strong working relationship. The school supports both of the major fundraising events, the 12 hours of sport and Dorset Walk. The Foundation not only raises money for cancer, it encourages the young people to get involved in all aspects of ‘charity’. This we believe presents valuable real life experience for the students as they have the opportunity to participate, raise money and then deliver the charity projects. The emotional and lasting impact on the young people is one of the charities biggest strengths.
The Malcolm Whales Foundation is a local cancer charity that is now entering its 12 year. It targets and funds support for people and families affected by cancer. As a charity it has grown steadily over the years with its impact gradually increasing. That is until recently, over the last 2 years the support has suddenly exploded! This year alone the charity has managed to raise in excess of £75,000 taking the total raised beyond the £250,000 mark.
This year’s 12 Hours of Sport involved several schools in the Cambridgeshire region with Ely College, Witchford Village College, Thomas Clarkson, Littleport East Cambs Academy, Stamford Welland and KSCS all taking part on the same day. Early indications suggest the day has raised more than £15,000 for the charity.
There is also an added local dimension this year. Following the success of the Woodlands Project at Hinchingbrooke Hospital last year. The Foundation has agreed to raise and donate £50,000 to the Cancer Wellbeing Service (CWS) based at the Robert Horrell Centre, at Peterborough Hospital. The centre is in desperate need of refurbishment, the £15,000 from the 12 hours will go a long way to making this project a reality. There is obviously still a long way to go to reach the 50k target, but with the success of this event we hope to reach the figure by the middle of next year.
Peterborough is very lucky to have such an amazing building for cancer support. The staff and the facility, in terms of what is delivered, is amazing. With the financial support from the Foundation, their impact can be further enhanced and provide even better levels of care and support
From the schools points of view, there is something special about KSCS students fundraising to directly impact in their own community, it is hoped that students and our community will be able to pull together to really make a difference
On Friday the students energy levels and enthusiasm were outstanding. We are very proud that we are able to support the charity and that so many students want to get involved. Next year we are hoping for more students and hopefully a few of the other Peterborough schools getting involve
With my charity hat on I want to extend my thanks to all the schools, staff and headteachers that have supported the event. The days are quite tiring, but so rewarding, the feedback from the PE staff that organised and ran their events across the county has been so positive. Several of them describing the day as the best day of their teaching career
Damien Whales, Vice Principal at KSCS and founder of TMWF
The charity is already working with the CWS and are in the early stages of planning the developments. We are hoping that we will start the refurbishment in the spring of 2020. As stated, we will be looking to involve the community in the project, we will be looking for volunteers, skilled tradesmen, donation of resources and financial sponsorship. Anybody that is interested in getting involved please contact us at info@tmwf.co.uk or via one of our social media accounts.