Kennet School staff member embarking on Lake District charity challenge

Behaviour support worker 'going out of her comfort zone'

A THATCHAM woman will be going out of her comfort zone to raise money for Kennet School.

April Goddard will scramble up 757m-high fell Ill Bell in the Lake District, and take the plunge, jump and squeeze through and around waterfalls on a ghyll scramble.

Accompanied by husband Aaron, Mrs Goddard will finish the fundraiser hiking either the 803m Old Man of Coniston or the 950m mountain Helvellyn over the weekend of October 9.

Mrs Goddard, a behaviour support worker at Kennet School, said she would going out of her comfort zone and said: “I am petrified to do the challenges.

“I think the only thing I’m excited about is seeing the amazing views.

“I am scared of heights, so rock climbing with no safety harness is scary for me.

“Secondly I absolute hate cold water, so when I jump in that cold water off the mountain I’ll probably cry.”

But in aid of a good cause, Mrs Goddard said she chose the Kennet Parent Teacher Association (PTA) as she had attended Kennet and said she “loved seeing the school get updated with new equipment which helps support the children”.

She spoke with headteacher Gemma Piper and was told that some of the money raised would go towards new laptops in the SEN (special education needs) department.

“Being a mum to a child who has ADHD and autism myself the SEN unit is something I feel really passionate about as one day my child will be in that exact SEN unit needing that exact same equipment,” Mrs Goddard said.

The challenges also follow Mrs Goddard deciding to change her life, losing weight and starting a new job at Kennet.

The 27-year-old said: “One year ago I started a journey.

“I was morbidly obese and this had a huge impact on my physical and mental health.

“One year ago I decided enough was enough and I decided to make changes for the better.

“In this last year I have lost almost seven stone and I now want to do things that I would of never been able to do, such as fitness activities.

“I spoke to my husband and we looked at different ideas that we could do and I thought ‘go big or go home’.

“Every single day the children and staff members at Kennet School inspire me and now I want to inspire them.

“I want to show people that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”

Mrs Goddard has raised £255 of her £500 target so far and donations can be made at https://gf.me/u/yzqpin

Kennet PTA chairwoman Kelly Hood said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to April for fundraising on behalf of the PTA.

“I would encourage anyone to get in touch if you would like to set yourself a challenge whilst raising sponsorship on Kennet School’s behalf.

“We’d also love to hear from anyone with creative fundraising ideas and as always I want to thank everyone for the help we get as a PTA.

“We are really fortunate to have such fantastic support.”