A dedicated group of 75 Penrice students volunteered to take part in a gruelling 24-Hour Charity Challenge last week, all in aid of Children’s Hospice South West. 

The 24-Hour Charity Challenge is an annual Penrice fundraiser where students volunteer to take shifts dancing, cycling and rowing as a team, non-stop for 24 hours. 

A fundraising total was confirmed and the brave Year 11 volunteers raised a grand total of £2,080. 

The money will be used by Children’s Hospice South West who provide care and respite support for children with life threatening conditions and their families through their hospices located in Cornwall (St Austell), Devon and Somerset. 

In a public message on social media, Children’s Hospice South West said: “Amazing Team Year 11! Thank you all for your outstanding support, you guys are superstars.”

The event took place Penrice Assembly Hall, surrounded by spectating pupils and teachers who were cheering on in support. 

The music volume was kept high as students worked through the night to keep the bikes spinning, the rowing machines whirring and plenty of shapes being thrown on the dancefloor. 

Ms Gambier, headteacher at Penrice Academy, said: “The 24-Hour fundraiser is always a highlight of the academic year and the charity being supported this time around is Children’s Hospice South West whom we have a close connection with. 

“Our Year 11 volunteers demonstrated tremendous resilience and endurance as they powered through the night. 

“They even put on a real spectacle for students and staff who arrived at 8am the next day to see a packed dancefloor of energetic students in a synchronised dance routine.”

The 24 hours ended with a carefully choreographed performance of Waka Waka by Shakira, which included an innovate group dance move of a four-person human bicycle. 

Kev Toms, head of Year 11, said: “The students did themselves proud. It certainly wasn’t an easy 24 hours; the nightshift between 3am and 5am was particularly challenging. 

“But to see so many students involved throughout with very happy faces at the end was hugely rewarding. They’ve raised so much money for charity and they’ve done themselves proud!” 

He added: “These students were willing to put themselves through something that is very challenging for the benefit of other people. 

“The funds donated to a very local charity shows a great sense of pride within our community along with compassion and respect for other people.”