QEH pupils take on fund-raising challenges

Cake sales? Pah - we'd rather climb Everest, swim the channel eight times and run four marathons.

That was the attitude of young teenagers at QEH boys' school in Bristol when it came to raising money for Barnardo's.

The lads, aged 13 and 14, took part in a contest in which they challenged themselves mentally and physically to overcome obstacles.

They competed in four events over a morning:

Scaling Everest: each form "climbed" up the main stairs of the school in Clifton using the side rope. The aim was for each boy was to climb 300 metres. The minimum target for each form was Ben Nevis at 1344m and the cumulative target for Year 9 was Everest at 8840m.

Rowing the Channel: each form rowed 20km in 30 minutes based on 1km per boy with four rowing machines at once.

The world's greatest marathons: each form had to run a marathon. The boys had to run 1.3 miles in 30 minutes in groups of five.

Invisible maze: boys had to work together to solve the problem of crossing unseen barriers.

The boys were inspired to do the challenge after a talk from Barnardo's representative Robin Turner.

Event organiser Jo Sharrock, the school's head of Year 9, said: "It was fantastic to see the boys throw themselves into the event with such enjoyment. They far exceeded my expectations by raising over £2,100 and climbing Everest two and a half times."

One pupil raised £200 of the total on his own.