Staff at St John’s in Marlborough, who tackled the famously gruelling Three Peaks challenge in less than 24 hours, have raised more than £1,500 towards the school’s new all-weather pitch.

Thirteen members of staff left St John’s at the end of the school day on Friday September 27 and were back in Marlborough by 7am on Sunday after completing the challenge.

The group headed straight to Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain at 1,344 metres, and arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning.

They completed the first climb in just over four hours, before heading to Scafell Pike in the Lake District and journeying on to Snowdon, which they climbed late on Saturday night.

The teachers who took part were Ben Cobbold, Charlie Paul, Fay Simpson, Harriet Clapton, Jonny Friend, Jamie Turnbull, Lorna Montague, Penny Dickinson, Phil Goodland, Rachel Popham and Sam Shields. Two teachers, John Opie and Clive Stell, drove the group.

Teacher Mr Paul, who works with students with learning difficulties, said he had underestimated the difficulty of the trek.

He said: “I was the one who underestimated it the most. I personally have never done anything like it before and I’m not going to be doing it again anytime soon.

“We got everything thrown at us, we got a bit of sleet and fog, it was hot and it was cold. The last bit of Snowdon is just concrete steps, but I was dragging myself up those by that point.

“There was a really good team spirit. It was a difficult pace, but that meant we had a chance of doing it in the 24 hours.”

Mr Paul is also raising money for Pewsey Primary School’s play equipment fund. To sponsor the group visit www.justgiving.com/ Stjohns3peaks2013