Pupils raise thousands for cancer charities in memory of Tom Billington

Staff and pupils from Stamford School walked 13km in memory of a pupil to raise money for the charities that helped him over the course of his illness.

Year 9 pupil Tom Billington died in November and since then, pupils at the school have been raising funds for three charities that supported him and his family throughout his illness, which are the Teenage Cancer Trust, CLIC Sargent and the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

There have been collections at intervals organised by the pupils involved in a production of Animal Farm, and Nick and Charlie who run the Stamford School Tuckshop gave a large amount of their earnings to the charities.

Many more fundraising events have been happening, leading up to a whole school sponsored walk.

The walk began early at the Stamford School Chapel on Tuesday, June 30.

The route travelled through Stamford and onto Tinwell, to end at Normanton at the edge of Rutland Water. With temperatures up to 28C the pupils were packed up with water, and supervised by their teachers who took part in the walk. The walk took about four hours to complete.

Including the events that have been happening around Stamford Endowed Schools, the walk has brought the running total to £10,000 for the three charities, and still counting.

Headmaster of Stamford School Will Phelan said: “Tom was a wonderful Stamfordian and great friend to all. There has been a great determination felt throughout the Stamford Endowed Schools to do something for the charities that helped Tom and his family.

“The walk was a culmination of this and has raised a great sum of money for the charities, at least £10,000.

“All those involved should be very proud of their efforts, as, indeed, am I.”

Mr Phelan also thanked the school’s Year 12 pupils who marshalled the route, as well as PCSO Marlowe Bramwich, who manned the crossing at Tinwell. Nesbit Bros Coaches provided the students with a ride back to school after the walk.

Regional fundraising manager at Teenage Cancer Trust Helen Bearfield-Swift: “It was great to meet the boys from Stamford School on the day before they all set off on their walk, and it is really touching that they chose to raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust following Tom’s treatment at our unit in Leicester.”