PUPILS from New Hall School in Chelmsford raised over £4,000 for Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society after completing a fun run.

The pupils, aged from three to 11, gathered sponsorship from friends and family before running laps of 250 and 500 meters.

A cheque totalling £4,685 was handed over to the society, who provide counselling for local children and young adults, together with their families.

Year six teacher Robin Field ran the London Marathon earlier this year and the pupils were keen to support him by entering into the fun run.

He said: “The children really wanted to get behind me by completing the fun run, it was their idea to help me train for it.

“When the going got tough on my marathon, the love and care that our pupils had shown for the work of this important local charity inspired me to keep going.”

Steven Webb, from the society, accepted the cheque on behalf of the charity at a special assembly.

He said: “This fantastic amount of money will help us to provide a caring professional response to children in need, irrespective of their background, race or religion.

“We are enormously grateful to all the pupils, staff and parents of New Hall Preparatory School for their continued support to our charity.”