PARENTS from Stockton Heath Primary School are hoping to complete The National Three Peaks Challenge in 24 hours to raise funds for a much-needed playground makeover.

The team of 12 will begin their trek to Fort William in Scotland on July 6, where they will attempt the mammoth challenge the following day.

Within 24 hours, the group must walk Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike in England, and Mount Snowdon in Wales in the hope of finishing around 7.30am on July 8 – walking 24 miles, covering 462 miles by minibus and tackling 10,052 of ascents in the process.

Parent Paul Jackson, whose daughter is in year one at the West Avenue school, said: "I am personally feeling very confident. I have completed the challenge a year ago and have prepared better this time around.

"Having completed multiple challenges previously, I am aware of what we need to do to be successful on this challenge.

"I know the team are in great shape, organised and focused to complete this. Yes there are unknowns and always the summer weather can let us down, but we are in a good place mentally and physically to do the job now.

"We know we are carrying the responsibility of people who have parted with their hard earned money to sponsor us and we won't let them down."

Prior to July 7, the team are hoping to raise £5,000 across their individual fundraising pages which will go towards the school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to refurbish the school's playground.

To date, the group, who have been training for the past six months in preparation, have raised £3,680.

"As a collective the PTA are working really hard on all different initiatives to raise money, however, we decided to attempt this challenge to hopefully raise as much as possible so that the children can have the playground they really need," added 46-year-old Paul.

"We will have in total walked 70 times up and down various mountains and hills, cycled 100s of miles and spent hours in the gym to prepare for the challenge.

"With an average age of 38, with all of the normal commitments, this is a huge effort and commitment from the team and I know every penny of sponsorship is going to be well earned."

Paul will be joined by Julie Jones, Phil Gilbert, Sally Warbrick, Lee Ferraday, Nick Cumberland, Dan King, Phil Griffiths, Sam Turner, Darren Wood, Rachel Hadfield and Sinead Gorman.

Donations can be made at justgiving.com/companyteams/SHPS3peaksteam or via text message to 70070 – text: SHPS55