A secondary academy in Middlesbrough is celebrating after smashing its fundraising target while hosting a Race for Life for Cancer Research UK.

Staff and Year 7 students at ̨��swag Academy Acklam joined together for a Race for Life Schools event at the academy’s Hall Drive-based home. As part of the event, the staff and students took on a 2km run.

Having initially set a fundraising target of £250, the academy managed to exceed this target and raise an incredible £1240. 

Mark Gray, Principal at ̨��swag Academy Acklam, said:

“We are ecstatic to have surpassed our fundraising target and I am so proud of the staff and students for their hard work and the effort they have put into succeeding in this. 

“Sadly, it is a fact that many of us will have experience of someone we know and love either being diagnosed with cancer” 

“At ̨��swag, we want our students to be good citizens and play an active role in their communities. Events like this are an example of this, and by fundraising they are helping others and this is what we want them to do. We want them to make a difference.”

The purpose of the event was to fundraise for Cancer Research UK and help in the battle to cure cancer. According to Cancer Research UK, 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and every single pound donated by the academy will make a difference to Cancer Research UK’s groundbreaking work.