A WELLINGTON primary school has raised a total of £1,289.83 for a local food kitchen as part of a school exercise challenge.

Wellesley Park Primary School has taken part in the trust-wide Big Exercise Challenge, challenging students to commit to regular sporting activities while fundraising for the local food Kitchen, Wellington’s Warm Place.

The school is part of Blackdown Education Partnership, a partnership of schools working as a multi-academy trust across Devon and Somerset. Wellesley Park is one of 13 schools and academies within the trust.

As a trust, each school sets out on fundraising for a charity of their choice while promoting the ethos 'Get Better Together' and encouraging everyone to be healthier any way possible.

The children were set the task of completing as many 30-minutes of exercise over a month, with a new event on offer at school each week. The options included a Welly Walk, a HITT PE lesson for each class, just dance, and yoga.

The children had sponsor forms so family and friends can help them raise money and encourage them to complete more exercise over the month. The money raised went towards the ‘Warm Place’ initiative, which is run by Wellington Baptist Church to provide food and a warm shelter for those who need it.

Warm Place welcomes anyone who would like to come along, whether they are there just to sit in a warm place, interact with others or have something to eat and drink.

The church serves both lunch and supper for free, providing approximately 80 meals a day. This initiative was first introduced in 2022 and is there to help anyone who is facing both financial and mental health difficulties.

The total fundraised by Wellesley Park was collected by Reverend Sam from the Baptist Church who said he was blown away by the amount raised and was very grateful.