Pupils stride out in memory of former student Dylan

Scamblesby primary school held a sponsored walk recently in memory of Dylan Jones, an ex-pupil of Scamblesby CE Primary School and one of the school’s JB Sports Coaches, who sadly died over the summer following a two-year battle against cancer aged just 22.

We have been really moved and inspired by the bravery of Dylan,” said Scamblesby senior teacher Mr Charlie Luff.

"We wanted to honour his memory by raising money to help the Teenage Cancer Trust with their essential and tireless work into finding a cure for cancer and their support for patients and their families.”

As Dylan’s early childhood was based in Stalybridge near Manchester, the school’s staff and pupils thought it was fitting to recognise his proud Mancunian roots, and gave them the idea to walk the equivalent distance from his first school, Arlies Primary School, across the country to Scamblesby – 115 miles in total.

And so all of the school’s children and staff contributed towards the 115-mile total by walking laps of our school field, with 11 laps equalling one mile.

“The whole school community of children, staff, governors and parents were proud to come together to raise money for such a worthy cause, and to make sure that Dylan’s courage, optimism and strength will never be forgotten,” added Mr Luff.

“We are thrilled to announce that not only did we manage to walk the target of 115 miles, we actually managed to double it – walking a combined distance of 231.2 miles in four hours, raising a huge total of money for Teenage Cancer Trust in the process."

Dylan’s younger brother, 11-year-old Arron, was also on hand to support the school through the day, cheering them on and encouraging the children to keep going when they began to tire in the afternoon.

Mr Luff added: “It is believed, although not had final count as yet, and sponsor money is still coming in, but an amount of well over £1,000 has been raised which has exceeded our expectations as we are only a small school..”