Southend charity walk sees children raise thousands

A group of year one children from Blenheim Primary School in Leigh have completed a five-mile seafront walk.

On Sunday, they walked from Shoebury station, all the way to Rossi’s ice cream parlour in Westcliff.

The children took on this challenge to raise money to buy Christmas toys for children in families who may otherwise struggle to buy gifts.

Ben Hewis, organised the walk, after his six-year-old son, wanted to do something to help children who’s parents didn’t have much money.

Albie, six, along with his friends at Blenheim Primary School, then came together to tackle this walk to buy presents for Southend Community Outreach Group to hand out.

Ben said: “The walk was amazing. Any parents will know that asking their kids to walk even the shortest of distances is hard work. but they all did brilliant without a single moan.

“We did a little pep talk at the start, telling them that their hard work means that hundreds of children will get Christmas presents and that seemed to really motivate them.

“The finish line was at Rossi Ice Cream Parlour so the promise of a big ice cream probably helped spur them on too – even though it was bitterly cold, kids will always eat an ice cream. “All the parents are super proud. Christmas is a magical time of year for the kids with all the list writing and Santa Grotto visiting, but it has been incredible to see them so excited to do something that might make Christmas special for others less fortunate than themselves.”

In total, there were around 30 children that took part along with their parents. So far, they have raised almost £4,000.

Ben added: “We have been blown away by the generosity of our friends, family, and strangers from the internet.

“It is also important to us that donations are spent at local businesses, so the toys will be purchased from the wonderful Southend toy shop Argosy and the books from Jacqson Diego.”