MORE than 200 primary school pupils in Thornbury did their bit to get active this morning with interval training before lessons.

The fun session, which was run by the St Mary's Primary School Gates Running Club, a group set up in 2016 for mums of children at the school to help each other get in shape with workouts and short runs, was organised to promote healthy lifestyles ahead of Sports Relief.

Every class in the school, a full 219 pupils, ranging from four to 11 years old, as well as several teachers, took part, with the series of six exercises ranging from star jumps to freestyle disco dancing.

Thornbury’s mayor, Cllr Helen Harrison, a keen runner herself, also joined in the fun, taking part in her full mayoral robes.

“It went really well today,” said Maskell, one of the club’s founders.” We are pleased to have so many smiling faces here today and it looks like everyone had a lot of fun.”

Fellow mum-runner Angela Ashton added: “The kids were so energetic jumping around and it is good to give them a bit of education on how to lead an active healthy life.

“Plus it kicks off sport relief for them and gives them that boost to be thinking about how sport helps them in the future.”

Although not taking part himself, St Mary's head teacher Karl Joyce took great interest in the event, praising the running club for their involvement and saying that he very much enjoyed seeing the school enjoy being so active.

“The running club has been established for quite some time now,” he said, “it started just as an idea and has since taken off, having a really big impact on the school.

“This is just one way of keeping fit, not just the children but the adults as well and what we see here is that when the mums come into the school to work with the children, the children get inspired and excited, and encouraged them to be active in just as much the same way.”

Angela and fellow School Gates member Mhairi Vernon are set to take on the London Marathon later this year for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Limited.

The pair have already raised more than £1,000, but need more help in reaching their £2,000 target.

To find out more about their run, and to donate to their cause, visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/mhairi-ange.