School begins drive to raise funds for major trip

Walton High School in Stafford is looking to take up to 30 pupils to Peru in July next year as part of a camp experience with travel company Camp International.

The trip will see pupils climb Machu Picchu, as well as work in different villages to help build community centres and work on projects that will help rural villages with sanitation and education.

In order to do this, every pupil from Years 10 to 12 who has expressed an interest in going has been asked to raise £5,000 towards the costs of travelling to Peru.

Megan Riley, head of Year 12 and one of the organising teachers, said it was the first chance the school had to put together a school trip of this size since before the pandemic.

She said: "It's quite a unique trip as we haven't done something like this for a really long time as part of the school and we just wanted to give our pupils opportunities.

"Firstly, they would have the chance to get involved in fundraising, but also have the chance to get involved in a massive project, post-Covid, to broaden their horizons, as school trips were the first things cancelled when Covid hit and have been the last to restart."

Ms Riley said she was helping the pupils to plan and organise funding events and said the plan was to work with the school community over the next 12 months to raise the funds for the trip.

She said: "We've got a massive variety of students, some of whom are sporty and will be putting on sports tournaments, while others will be running sweet shops, litter picking and car washing.

"I just think it would mean the world to our students as they will get that once in a lifetime experience that they're not going to get anywhere else and I hope it will help them with building confidence over the next year.

"I think the pupils are just so excited to experience different cultures and to travel and challenge themselves by climbing Machu Picchu as well."