CHILDREN in Devizes travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain without leaving their playground on Friday.

The youngsters at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School took part in a Three Capitals Challenge to raise money for the NSPCC.

Every child and staff member at the school took part in a charity run around the school's grounds but covered the same distance as if they had run from London to Cardiff and on to Edinburgh.

Assistant head Gemma Payne said: "The NSPCC visited our school recently and delivered their Speak out, Stay safe assembly to share information with the children about how they can keep themselves safe from harm and get help if they have any worries.

"It was a very worthwhile and empowering session for both pupils and teachers. The leaders spoke to the children and staff about the valuable work they do across the country, and talked about how important it is for everyone in our school community to join them in their fight for every childhood.

"But, as a charity, they can only provide these vital resources thanks to the financial support and generosity of their supporters. That’s why we’re raising money to help the NSPCC’s work in schools."

Each group of children took responsibility for running, power walking, hopping or jumping different stages of the run. Each child had the option of travelling 1km, 2km or 3km of the overall distance.

Older children ran the Cardiff to Edinburgh leg and covered 497km while the infants went from London to Cardiff and covered 184km.

Ms Payne said: "We had a special interactive map outside in the playground for the children to see where they were on the actual journey and so that we could celebrate hitting each milestone."

Children were sponsored by friends and family and money will be counted this Friday.