Pupils at St Hilary's School climbed a virtual mountain while away from class during the last lockdown – all in the name of charity.

The children, and staff, took on the challenge of climbing the equivalent of Mt Kilimanjaro to raise money for the MND Schools Challenge.

The challenge was created by MND sufferer and former St Hilary's parent Paul Jameson. Mr Jameson, 60, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in June 2017.

He is the father of three former St Hilary's pupils, one of whom now works at the school as a learning support assistant. The MND Schools Challenge was launched last month, and saw children and staff climb the equivalent height of Mount Kilimanjaro in stairs - approximately 32,550 in total. Those taking part ranged in age from two to 50-plus. The sponsored event saw all the participants raising money for the MND Association. Headteacher Jane Whittingham said: "So many people were engaged, including all the children, the staff and some of our local community too. The challenge took all day and we had some great results. The school community was so inspired so we actually manged to climb Mount Kilimanjaro nine times!" "We found that this event really touched the heart of our local community and we are lucky to have such a close-knit community at St Hilary's. We asked parents and families to support us, even though we appreciate that it is difficult time for everyone at the moment. However, the challenge actually pulled us together and gave such a big focus. It was a much-needed distraction for the children and pupils, who had been learning at home for a very long time." "We set up the MND Schools website over half term and are now at the exciting position to pass the challenge on. We will be contacting local schools in the area and also hope to take this challenge wider afield both nationally and internationally."  Staff have also set themselves another challenge for when lockdown eases: they plan to climb Scafell Pike and plant a flag at the top, bearing the new MND Schools Challenge logo. Since his diagnosis, Mr Jameson has spent three years raising money for the MND Association. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and played a game of tennis at the summit, setting a world record for the highest-ever altitude game of tennis. He also climbed Mont Blanc, and has raised over £150,000, which led to him being awarded a British Empire Medal for his fundraising work. He has also created a platform, www.Aura.life,which covers all aspects of death, from organising your affairs to leaving messages for your loved ones. He says he believes that children should learn about and talk about death as part of the school curriculum to break the taboo on the subject.