Sky Sports' David Jones walks three marathons for School Aid India
Wednesday 11 September 2019 07:24, UK
Sky Sports presenter David Jones made the most of an early international break in the Premier League season, but he didn't have his feet up.
Jones climbed three hilly marathons in three days for School Aid India, climbing over 3,000 feet a day - taking in parts of the Cleveland Way and the North Yorkshire Moors - the equivalent of scaling Ben Nevis twice.
School Aid India - set up by Jones' mother Helen - provides education for underprivileged kids in Darjeeling, in the Indian Himalayas. Through fund raising alone she helped to erect a new school building which is now full of kids who are desperate to learn, some walking miles day and night to get an education their families never dreamed was possible.
Not a penny comes from the Indian government; all the teaching, resources, books, and even computers, are provided by the charity, but the results have been extraordinary.
Roseberry School - named after the unusual hill Roseberry Topping which sits above the North Yorkshire village where Jones grew up - now houses 140 children in seven school years, providing them with an education to lift them and their families out of the poverty trap.
Jones said: "The charity is an incredible success story but its survival relies entirely on donations - School Aid India is run by volunteers like my mum - and every single penny goes directly to the school.
"Think of it like this:
£20 would provide one child with a school uniform that would fill them with pride,
£50 would supply one class with a wide range of books
£2250 would pay a teacher's salary for the entire year."
The charity has successfully completed the build of a new school wing, and now to kit out the building they are seeking a carefully costed £7,590 to provide furniture, new books, an IT facility, musical instruments, sports equipment and other basic resources.
