THE school class of Alfie Steele, the nine-year-old from Droitwich who tragically died in February, are taking on a marathon to raise money and 'promote happiness and kindness' after a difficult year.

Along with his pupils, Greg Holloway, who teaches 5GH at Witton Middle School in Droitwich, the class which Alfie was in, will be completing the distance equivalent of a full marathon (26.3 miles).

The pupils have been walking half the distance which they will complete in school together, and Mr Holloway will complete the other half of the distance next month while running in the countryside.

"I had a talk with my headteacher and we have had a lot of conversations in school about bereavement and how we deal with that this year, and I wanted the class to have something positive to look back on this year," said Mr Holloway.

"Most of the questions we have had in class have stemmed around what happened to Alfie and they’re the questions we can't answer for the children, and as a teacher that feels awful to not be able to give them answers.

"We can acknowledge that something terrible has happened, and with it being a really tough year, we wanted to start a fundraiser promoting happiness in the world and the more people that engage with our ‘Walking For Smiles’ fundraiser will create a nice message for the class to remember.

"We just think that everyone needs a bit of happiness and joy in their life at the moment and my class more than ever after the tragedy.

"Of course we don’t have the answers to most of the questions that are asked about the situation, but we wanted to take the focus away from that so when we do the walk we talk about Alfie and we remember him."

The class have already raised £280 so far, which will go to Action for Happiness, a charity which works to help people to improve their mental wellbeing, and to make positive changes in their homes, schools, workplaces and local communities.

"We found a charity that creates happy memories for people, and the kids were keen to do it and I wanted to do something as well and show them I was going to put myself through a bit of hardship by running a half marathon to raise some money," added Mr Holloway.

To learn more about the fundraiser, or to donate, visit bit.ly/3aPaj5k