Pupils and staff from a North East specialist school are donning costumes from comics and films for a sponsored climb of Roseberry Topping to raise money for their class.
Class 6 from Aycliffe School, run by the North East Autism Society (NEAS), will take on a ‘Superhero Walk’ to the 1,049 foot summit of the iconic landmark on 17th July.
The young people in class 6, aged 15-16, as well as staff from the school, hope to raise money for free time resources to help pupils relax and socialise in the classroom between lessons.
Judith Gibbons, class 6’s teacher at Aycliffe School, said: “Especially during the winter months, when they can’t always get outside for breaks, pupils get to play together, and it brings everyone together as a class with common interests.”
Rhys, a pupil in class 6, added: “It’s entertainment and it builds friendships.”
The class has been preparing for the trek with regular wellbeing walks in parks around the region, including South Park in Darlington, Hardwick Hall Country Park, and the Tees Barrage.
Judith said: “We find, as a class, walking is good for our general wellbeing, fitness, and mental health. That led to the idea that we’ll walk up Roseberry Topping, and we felt that if we were walking up Roseberry Topping, we should do it to raise money.”
Pupils were inspired by other fundraising efforts, and the idea of completing the trek in fancy dress began as a joke about Judith and class 6 pupil Luke dressing up as Batman and Robin for the climb.
The joke soon became a way to promote the event, and grew into the planned theme of a superhero walk, with costumes donated by a local provider.
“As a class we generally like Marvel and superheroes. It’s a popular topic for the class and kind of fits with everyone’s personalities,” Judith said. She added: “We got a lot of attention just being out and about in the costumes, I think the reaction’s going to be really supportive now that people know about it.”
As well as planning the walk, class 6 are also promoting it themselves as part of an ongoing work experience project with NEAS’ marketing team.
Pupils learned about branding and designed a class logo and poster for the event, which they have put up around Newton Aycliffe.
The class also learned about creating QR codes, and anyone interested in donating can scan the code, found on the poster, to be taken to class 6’s JustGiving page.
To learn more, or donate, visit:
www.justgiving.com/page/judith-gibbons-1717763835438