Kim has been a teaching assistant at the Central Hub Brighton for two years. The Hub is an alternative provision that brings together the pupil referral units and The Connected Hub for the City of Brighton and Hove. Pupils enter alternative provision when they cannot join a mainstream school, for reasons including illness, behavioural problems, and mental health issues.

The Hub has applied for a new Sunshine Coach through Variety, the Children’s Charity.

While Sunshine Coaches are mostly funded by sponsors, including companies, trusts, foundations, and individuals, schools are asked to contribute a small percentage towards their coach. Kim is aiming to raise £5,000 towards the school’s contribution to the coach. The remaining cost will be funded by a sponsor, once one is found, and the school.

Kim is walking the marathon with Del Woodward (29) and Justin Cole (43). The team will be joined throughout the day by assistant heads Rosie Reekie and Penny Langridge, alongside support staff and pupils from the Central Hub. The day will be a trip out for the pupils, who will walk some of the route, followed by a picnic.

Headteacher, Tim Self, has been supportive of the challenge since Kim first thought of it at the start of the school year. He has been keen to get the pupils involved in the fundraising efforts.

Kim said:

The pupils are very eager to get involved and love the idea of myself and my teammates walking from Bognor to Brighton.

My inspiration has been our pupils here. We take them out on weekly trips and unfortunately, that weekly experience for them can get off on the wrong foot with our current minibus, especially if it’s rained or it’s cold. The seats can get wet and the roof leaks.

I would just love for our children to be in the comfort of a warm, dry minibus and for them to be starting their trips in the right way.

I feel as an alternative provision, we get the opportunity to offer our pupils a more bespoke way of learning, and our outside learning is very important to not only our pupils, but to us too. Giving them a new minibus would really fill me with joy, just to know they are comfortable, dry, and warm, and that we could move these trips further afield in the near future: how amazing that would be for our young people!

Donate to Kim’s fundraiser