CHILDREN in West Cumbria have raised more than £36,000 for a local charity.

Between April and July more than 3,000 children took part in Mini Colour Runs at their schools and raised the cash for Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

Twelve schools signed up to host their own Mini Colour Run events which involved children, teachers and parents doing laps of their school field while being showered in a rainbow of coloured powdered paints.

Since the Mini Colour Run programme began in 2015, over £85,000 has been raised by school children.

St James’ Infant and Nursery School and St James’ Junior School in Whitehaven held a joint Mini Colour Run at the Whitehaven Amateurs ground in June which raised £4,015.51.

Michael Craig, headteacher at St James’ Infant and Nursery School said: “We had a fantastic afternoon raising money for such a brilliant cause and the children loved getting colourful.

“We held a collective worship in school to learn about the brilliant work Hospice at Home West Cumbria does in our local community and we were thrilled to be able to raise such a fantastic amount for such a worthy cause.”

Ann Morgan Opticians in Cleator Moor sponsored the joint event.

Ann said: “I was made aware of the Mini Colour Run by my daughter Rachel, who teaches in the infant school.

“My business has been welcomed and supported by the community of West Cumbria for over 20 years – not just in Cleator Moor where we are based but people travel to us from Maryport to Millom and Workington to Penrith.

“I am always happy to give something back to the community in various ways and this year I was delighted to be able to support Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

“The children really enjoyed the event and the money raised will help local people have access to professional and compassionate palliative and end-of-life care in their own homes”.

Gemma Bell, fundraiser for Hospice at Home West

Cumbria, said: “We have had a fantastic few months working with the schools and I would like to say a huge thank you to the teachers, parents, children and all the companies who have sponsored the events. We need to raise over £1 million each year to provide our vital services which include home nursing, specialist lymphoedema care and family & bereavement support, the incredible amount raised from the Mini Colour Runs will help many patients and their families in our local community. We are looking forward to another fun-filled programme of Mini Colour Runs in 2020.”