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A young girl has raised in excess of £1,000 for a farm at her school.
Maia Barton-Grinsted, who is in Year 3 at Seal CE Primary School in Sevenoaks, was tasked with cycling, rowing and hiking 58 miles in a two-week period by her parents.
She not only completed the challenge but even managed to exceed the target she was set by seven miles.
The family had initially hoped to raise £500 for the farm at Seal CE Primary School but they have raised more than double that amount.
“Basically, we had a medal for her at home but we just thought she needed to deserve the honour of winning it,” said the seven-year-old’s father, Dan Barton of outdoor food catering company Liquor Box and Pantry.
“So I gave her this challenge which she took up.
“But she said ‘If I’m going to do all these miles, why don’t I raise money for charity?’
“Straight away, she thought of the Seal School farm which they are building.”
Maia had been due to hike 30 miles, cycle 20 miles and row eight miles but ended up hiking 33 miles and cycling 24 miles, as well as completing eight miles rowing on a machine.
Mr Barton, who lives with his family in Heaverham within the Sevenoaks district, added: “So she started the challenge to do 58 miles but she did 65 miles in the two-week period.
“We started contacting family for sponsorship and we suddenly realised that, actually, potentially we were going to get £500 in sponsorship.
“So we did a little advert on Facebook and spoke to staff where we work, we run the Chequers Inn pub. We asked the staff and some of the regulars to donate.
“She has not finished collecting yet but she has raised more than £1,000.”
The farm is home to a variety of animals, including chickens, ducks, quail, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs and bees, but isn't yet open to the public.
Mr Barton said: “It's a really good thing for the community. It's great what they are doing.
“Obviously, they just need funding because it is proving to be quite expensive to build all the shelters and feed all these animals.”
Maia finished her two-week challenge on February 8.
Sara Spellman is outdoor learning leader at Seal CE Primary School and those interested in helping support the farm can email her at sspellman@inspirefederation.co.uk.
