A Headteacher walked through Derby dressed as a chicken after his pupils fulfilled a fundraising pledge and raised over £1,300 for charity.
Graham Lobb walked 3.6 miles from his school, St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy in Alvaston, to St Mary’s Church in Bridge Gate, Derby, with colleague, Nathalie Woodings, who was dressed as an egg.
Mr Lobb set his pupils a challenge to raise over £1,000 for CAFOD and the money will be used to buy chickens for families in Kenya, to help them earn a living.
The final total raised was £1,300 and Mr Lobb had to fulfil his pledge to walk through the streets of Derby dressed as a chicken.
He said: “I am really proud of the way that the school came together and completed my challenges to both complete the Big Walk for CAFOD and to raise a fantastic amount of money for this great cause.
“I enjoyed doing the walk with Miss Woodings – and was really happy to do it following all the effort that the children and families made.
“It really did show that – while St John Fisher might be quite a small school – it has the largest of hearts. I wonder what we will do next year!”
Each class at St John Fisher was set the target of walking 211 miles – the distance between 9 jubilee churches in the Diocese of Nottingham – plus an extra 200 miles across the whole school to bring the grand total to 1,411 miles – the distance from the school to the Vatican in Rome.
Pupil Riley said: “I thought it was really fun; I wasn’t sure if Mr Lobb and Miss Woodings were going to do it. I’ll be leaving school this year but my brother is still here so hopefully he can tell me what they do next year.”
“The school has never done anything like this before. Mr Lobb is a really fun Headteacher and the best one I’ve had so far,” pupil Lily said.
Pupil Adriel said: “I wasn’t sure if we would raise enough money so that Mr Lobb would do it. I thought we might get to £700. I think Mr Lobb and Miss Woodings doing this shows how much they care.”
The fundraising is part of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year 2025, themed ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ which aims to foster a sense of hope and community.
Mr Lobb, Miss Woodings, Will Cruddace and John Grattidge (both from CAFOD).
