Chelsea’s famous five swim the extra mile
Local pupils raise more than R65 000 for charity for the disabled.
THOUGH the Midmar Mile is done and dusted, the contributions of a quintet of Chelsea Preparatory School pupils will be longstanding. Ryan Connor, Shaun Connor, Ray Hsu, Tristan and Josh Hanass-Hancock helped raise a whopping R70 000 for The Extra Mile initiative.
“The initiative was formed by academics of the READ (Research, Education, Aids and Disability) group in co-operation with QAK (the Quadpara Association of KwaZulu-Natal),” said UKZN lecturer and Glen Hills resident, Jill Hanass-Hancock.
“The main aim of our idea is that everyone can make a difference and ‘go the extra mile’. Some of the money raised will be used to support Khetiwe, a therapy centre for those children who cannot afford rehabilitative services in KwaZulu-Natal, while the other half goes towards wheelchairs and building a playground for disabled children. It might seem like a simple gesture, but the money raised makes such a huge difference,” she said.
Following in their mother’s footsteps, Josh and Tristan decided to give something back.
“My mom is always giving her time to this worthy cause and as a group of friends we thought we could do the same. We worked extremely hard to get people to pledge their mile to the foundation,” Tristan said.
Chelsea Prep Grade 7 pupil Shaun Connor, said it was awesome to be donating to charity. “I love helping others and besides giving something back it was important to create awareness around The Extra Mile initiative,” Shaun said.
Ryan echoed his brother’s comments saying he was “stoked” with the money they raised.
He spoke to his fellow pupils at the school earlier in the year about the importance of rehabilitative physiotherapy for the disabled. “It was a little nerve racking and I can’t remember exactly what I said but we wanted people to be long-term ambassadors for the Extra Mile,” Ryan said.
