Students make the grade in sponsored walk

Alex Gore • Published 11 Sep 2009 08:00 0 Comments

A PAIR of schoolboys who completed a 350 mile fundraising walk from Land's End to Pangbourne College arrived at the school just in time to pick up their GCSE results.

Charles Waite-Roberts, 16, and Christopher Schrader, 17, reached school two days earlier then expected, after setting off from Penzance on August 14.

The boys were raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and The Joshua Hellmann Foundation for Orphan Disease, which was set up by Christina Hellmann after her son, one of Christopher's friends, died of the rare Melas Syndrome.

Christopher, who lives in Hong Kong and picked up a string of As and A*s, said: "The walk was immensely tough, far more than I had expected, but definitely worth it.

"A lot of the time you question yourself why you put yourself through such a physically and mentally tough challenge, but it's easy to put things out of context. There are so many people out there who suffer tougher challenges everyday their whole lives.

Charles, from Basingstoke, added: "It was a fantastic experience and made me feel that I was doing something really worthwhile.

"I have always admired my friend Olivia Simmonds, who has cystic fibrosis, and her courage in facing up to her illness. Through the walk maybe I will be able to influence her future just a little bit."

The teenagers walked around 25 miles a day, almost non-stop from 9am-7pm. So far the duo have raised around £7,500 but hope to raise more than £10,000.

For information on how to donate www.christopherandcharles.com/C_C/Home.html

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