Portsmouth High Prep house raises hundreds of pounds for cancer trust in support of pupils’ father who smashed cross-Atlantic rowing challenge

Portsmouth High Prep School welcomed the return of Chris Ayres, one of the members of The Bubbleheads.

This four-strong team of divers have been celebrating their successful completion of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, raising £24,000 for Wessex Cancer Trust by rowing across the Atlantic in a 25ft Rannoch R45 rowing boat.

Chris’s daughter Evelyn is a Year 1 student at Portsmouth High School.

The city school decided to host a fundraising day in support of Wessex Cancer Trust, showing solidarity with The Bubbleheads.

Students took part in a number of activities on the fundraising day, including a challenge to see how far they can row in one minute on a rowing machine, as well as taking part in a raffle and prizes, buying bubbles, and wearing a multi coloured item on the day.

The fundraising day raised more than £400 for the charity.

Aristea, head of Dolphin House in Year 6, said: ‘Dolphin House had great fun organising the events for everyone in school to raise as much money as we could for Wessex Cancer Trust. We were so pleased to raise over £400 for them.’

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Chris was welcomed to Portsmouth High Prep to talk to the pupils about The Bubbleheads’ journey, in which they completed their challenge in 37 days, 12 hours and 45 minutes, finishing in fifth place in their class and six overall out of 38 boats.

Sarah King from the Wessex Cancer Trust was also welcomed to the school, and Evelyn presented the charity representative with a cheque for the £431.37 collected during the fundraising day.

On his journey across the Atlantic, Chris was joined by Andy Taw, Lewis Locke, and James Piper.

The team chose to support the Wessex Cancer Trust as the charity had provided support to James and his family over the last six years when his late wife, Nikki, courageously battled a rare form of cancer before she sadly passed away on March 28, 2020.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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