A SEDBERGH School team of 50 staff, pupils and parents competed in the Great North Swim at Lake Windermere this month, raising in excess of £3,000 for this year’s chosen charity, The Calvert Trust. In total, the group’s collective distance reached 30 miles.

Training began during the summer holidays, in conjunction with Sleeker Swim at Fell Foot Park, at the southern tip of Lake Windermere, and some staff are already in training again for a 5km perimeter swim of Buttermere in September.

Hayley Christy, Robertson Housemistress, started the initiative three years ago. She said: “Since we started entering the event, enthusiasm has grown immensely. It is an event that fosters camaraderie between pupils staff and parents as well as pushing many outside their comfort zones.”

Faye Robinson, Sedbergh Prep Biology teacher and Head of Sedbergh Equestrian Team, said: “It is great that all the Sedbergh School community can take part in this event from both Prep and Senior School pupils to parents and staff including many father/mother and daughter combinations. There is a super atmosphere during training and we are growing in numbers each year to help raise money for good causes.”