Imagine having to walk up to 10k to and from school or work each day. Next, imagine doing this same journey across rugged, African scrubland. Now imagine making this same, 20k round-journey with no shoes. In bare feet. This is the daily reality for millions of children across Africa. The consequential cuts and grazes can quickly go sceptic, causing lameness and long-term injury.

Winterfold House School have supported Ncemaneni School in the Natal Province of South Africa for over 10 years, providing funding for infrastructure projects, including the building of classroom and science blocks. However, it wasn't until Ncemaneni Principal, Armstrong Mthembu, visited our school and spoke to our pupils about life at Ncemaneni that we realised that the majority of his children, aged between 8 and 13, face their daily hike to school without even the most basic of footwear.

To raise money to provide shoes for every child at Ncemaneni, twenty intrepid adventurers (including teachers and parents from Winterfold and Bromsgrove Schools) have signed up to complete the Hadrian’s Wall Challenge – coast-to-coast in 3 days; that’s 84 miles in total, and an average of 28 miles per day.

We have decided to partner with ‘the shoe that grows’ simply because they are brilliant! Each pair can be adjusted so that they grow with the child. Please visit www.theshoethatgrows.org for more information.

Every £20 of sponsorship money will buy one pair of shoes that will last a child 5 years. Please support us, to make a real difference, to real children.

With thanks to the following people who are taking part in the challenge:

Friends of Winterfold: Richard & Victoria Darby, Andrew Odell, Fraser Stark, Jo Till, Paul Houston, Rob Spittle, Don Fleming, James Sirett, Eileen Watts

Bromsgrove Teachers: Matthew Giles, Caroline Leather, Helen Popescu, Paul Sutherland

Winterfold Teachers: Simon Dieppe, Dave Loughton, Rick Cotterill, Claire Florida-James, James Brinkley.