A HEADTEACHER who said her heart broke every time one of her students was diagnosed with cancer decided she wanted to do something to help.

So Frances Billinge, of Haydonleigh Primary School, took on a 100km walk for cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

The headteacher of 14 years said: “I wanted to raise money because we have had children in the past who had cancer treatment.

"And we have one little boy at the school now who is halfway through his.

“This just makes it more poignant and personal for me. It’s the hardest thing to find out about what these children have to go through.

"I know what it is like from personal experience with adults in my life getting a cancer diagnosis.

"When you get told a six-year-old has it and you have some knowledge of what that journey of treatment is going to look like for them it really pulls on my heartstrings.

“As a school we have supported families going through this and we have known children who have lost a parent to cancer so we pride ourselves as being a community and pulling people together.”

Last year she walked 65 miles around the Isle of Wight in 25 hours.

She had scheduled to do four 100k walks this year but they were cancelled because of lockdown, one of them would have been from Minehead to Dawlish Warren.

But Frances decided to do it on the school grounds instead to raise funds for CLIC Sargent – a children and young people’s cancer charity.

“Walking is my stress relief and with coronavirus going on I felt I needed a walking goal,” Frances said.

“I enjoy the peace and tranquility when I do these long walks – it gives me time to reflect.

“But with everything going on at the moment with the pandemic it’s the most poignant time to be reflective. There wasn’t a lovely site to see but I could watch the sunset and sunrise.”

Before she got going on the day she played 500 Miles by The Proclaimers as students and teachers walked into school.

She started the walk at 3pm on July 22 and finished at 10am the next day, eating pizza and snacks to keep her going.

Frances raised almost £2,000 out of her £800 target.

She told the Adver: “It’s important to spread the message. We’re shocked every time we have a diagnosis at our school and we want to do as much as we can to help.”

Donations can be made at justgiving.com/fundraising/frances-billinge2