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North Bristol primary school raises money to help Malawi’s coronavirus response
Children at Stoke Bishop Primary School are raising money to help nurses in Malawi by doing a lockdown version of the Seven Summits challenge.
Dr Joe Langton works at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi’s second largest city, Blanytre. She asked the children of the Bristol primary school to help support nurses working at the hospital as the country prepares for lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In response, the children of the school have been undertaking a lockdown version of the real-world mountaineering challenge Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent, including Mount Everest, in their own homes.
is needed now More than ever
The challenge, Moving Mountains for Malawi, will raise money to buy bus fares for the nurses. Malawian social distancing laws have cut the number of people who are allowed to travel on buses and, in order to survive, the bus companies have had to raise their fares ten-fold from 20p to £2. The nurses, who earn less than £60 a month, are unable to afford to travel to work as a result.
Patience’s year group are climbing the height of Mount Kilimanjaro in their homes
The money raised by the children of Stoke Bishop Primary School will be donated to the hospital charity Friends of Sick Children in Malawi to directly support the nurses working there. The children been supported by local climbers including Graham Hoyland and Jake Meyers.
Each year group at the school had the challenge of climbing one of the seven summits by climbing their stairs at home or steps in parks by Sunday, April 19. The school has already raised more than £3,000 for the cause and at least four of the summits have been reached.
The children are climbing the height of the mountains using their stairs at home or steps in local parks
All photos: Emma Scott at Stoke Bishop Primary School
Read more: Supporting mothers in difficult circumstances through the coronavirus pandemic
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