A group of scouts participated in a long overnight walk over the weekend, in an aim to raise funds for the Desai Memorial Primary School Support Group and to help subsidise the future activities of the section. 

More than 20 members of the 19th Swindon Scouts and six leaders began their gruelling walk around the 40m school hall of Goddard Park Primary School.

The challenge was to to walk the distance from Lands' End to John O’Groats, which is around 1,300km.

They began at 6.30pm and walked around the hall continuously until 3.30pm the following afternoon, with a short break every hour.

The group fell just short of the targeted distance, but still managed to walk 26,233 laps of the hall, travelling a total of 1,102.11km.

The hundreds of pounds raised will go towards the section and the Desai Foundation.

Alan Finnigan, the Scout leader, said it was a challenging but rewarding experience for those who took part.

The Scouts unit found the walk rewarding but exhaustingThe Scouts unit found the walk rewarding but exhausting (Image: Alan Finnigan)

He said: “we had some very exhausted children, and a lot of kids I’m very proud of as they just kept going.

“It was exciting for them to spend a night in a school, and it was great to raise some money.

“We had food coming in throughout the event to keep the morale up and keep them going.”

Some of the parents joined in towards the final stretch, trying to aid in getting the milage up, contributing 149km as the younger members began to tire.

“It’s not just about walking around, it was about telling these 12-13 year olds that life is not always easy and sometimes you’ve just got to push on.

“It wasn’t a little challenge, virtually the entire section wanted to do it and it was something I think a lot of adults would really have struggled with.”