Malmesbury School pupils geared up to raise funds for charity and collected more than £1,500.

Last week, 120 students from Athelstan House, one of four houses the school is separated into, gathered at the Activity Zone to take part in 30-minute cycling slots for an all-day bike-a-thon.

Teacher Mike Heffernan, head of Athelstan House, said: “We wanted to do a big event with everyone from the house involved.

“The Activity Zone gave us free bikes, so a big thanks to them.

“Students cycled as far as possible in their 30-minute slots.

“We wanted the total to try to get to the distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats, which is about 863 miles. The actual distance was 1,111, so we’re really pleased.

“One Year 11 student, Ewan Kenny, did 18.7km in 35 minutes. He did really well to get that far.”

Students from years 7-11 took part in the bike-a-thon, which ran from 8.30am-4.30pm, to raise money for Help for Heroes. At the beginning of each school year, houses choose a charity to raise funds for.

Mr Heffernan said: “This year the house chose to raise money for Help for Heroes – it was an overwhelming majority.

“They aimed to raise £10 each for this, but it’s been more than that. It’s looking to be £1,500-£2,000, which will overtake the whole amount raised last year.”