Post 16 students at Macmillan Academy in Middlesbrough have recently completed the Academy's tenth annual Coast to Coast cycle ride from Workington to Sunderland.



Post 16 students at Macmillan Academy in Middlesbrough have recently completed the Academy's tenth annual Coast to Coast cycle ride from Workington to Sunderland. Each year a group of staff and students complete the gruelling 140 mile course over three-days in a sponsored challenge to raise money for different worthwhile causes. This year the chosen charity was Sport Relief, a charity which helps people living tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

Teacher Mike Cole is the organiser of this event and has led all ten of the sponsored challenges. "The idea came about as we wanted to give our Post 16 students the opportunity to be involved in something that would provide a real challenge. Physically, the ride can be quite gruelling and the students have to be committed to the training and the raising of sponsorship money."

Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012

In addition to the sense of personal achievement completing a challenge like this provides' Mike was also keen to highlight how much money has been raised over the years. "Since we started the Coast to Coast challenge' we have raised in excess of £20'000 for charities' which have included local hospices, and national cancer charities and children's charities." He added that this year staff and students are on target to raise another £2,000.

Involvement in this sort of charity work is just one of the ways that Post 16 students are making a positive impact at Macmillan, an academy which prides itself on its varied and exciting extra-curricular programme. Whether it's cycling up the never ending Hartside Pass on the Coast to Coast cycle' playing in the Rugby Academy' rehearsing for the up-coming production of Joseph or helping a Year 7 student to read more fluently' Post 16 students at the Academy will never be short of opportunities to get involved and develop new skills.

Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012
Coast to Coast 2012