Highfield and Brookham Schools pupil leads the way for Highreach

A determined young hiker from Highfield and Brookham Schools has put his best feet forward to swell the coffers for their school charity.

Oscar Tyrrell-Evans marched the length of the scenic South Downs Way, completing one hundred monumental miles from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex and raising a cool £1,300 for Highfield Highreach Holidays along the way.

Volunteer-led Highfield Highreach Holidays provides week-long breaks for disabled children aged eight to 16 and is run by Highfield and Brookham Schools in Liphook.

Oscar, who attends Highfield Prep School, took a slightly more unorthodox approach to his fundraising challenge, walking the route in a series of random, bite-sized sections – including a ten-mile section with sister Amelie, who also attends Highfield – while still staying faithful to the overall trail.

Yet the charity walk may never have materialised at all but for a Christmas present that Oscar received last December – a pair of Army boots.

“As soon as he received them he said he just simply wanted to walk,” said proud mum Caroline Tyrrell-Evans, whose youngest son, George, is a pupil at Brookham Pre-prep School. “He was so happy at the end of it. When he came over the final hill and saw his grandparents and banners congratulating him on his 100-mile walk, he was so chuffed.”

Congratulating Oscar on behalf of Highreach, Highfield Headmaster Phillip Evitt said: “We always try to encourage our children to give back and be outward looking and this is a fantastic example of such an ethos.

“We really couldn’t be more proud of Oscar. Highreach is a wonderful charity and is only able to offer fabulous and fun holidays to disabled children and a welcome respite for their dedicated carers thanks to the selfless efforts of children like Oscar.”

Operating since 2016, Highfield Highreach Holidays keeps costs low for families by raising funds throughout the year to cover more than half of the cost of the holidays, while all the staff are volunteers.

Highreach has just hosted another brilliant week of summer holiday activities both within Highfield and Brookham’s 175-acre grounds and courtesy of exciting trips to Butser Ancient Farm near Petersfield, Winchester Science Centre, Chessington World of Adventures, and the seaside at Littlehampton. This year, 24 Old Highfieldians returned to their former prep school to volunteer for the week, and they were joined by seven pupils from Churcher’s College in Petersfield who provided key support as part of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme projects.