Earlier this year, 36 Teign School students, who had participated in the 2019 Ten Tors challenge, took part in the Esh Challenge in support of Devon Air Ambulance.

Walking in memory

The annual walking event forms part of the Ten Tors training experience and takes place in memory of Esh Rampuri. Esh was a science teacher at Teign School for 21 years and had helped out with the Ten Tors training for 19 of those.

Esh was well-loved for his dry sense of humour and for the fact that he would always go out of his way to help wherever he could. Sadly, he passed away not long after his retirement in 2007 and so the Esh Challenge was set up in his honour.

This year the event involved the students walking 28 miles in one day over difficult Dartmoor terrain for charities of their choice. 2019 fundraising took place for Devon Air Ambulance and Dartmoor Rescue; two charities whose work is essential to Devon and the Ten Tors activity.

Fair weather walking

Teign School year 9 student, Toby Mason, who took part, said:

My brother told me this was a challenging walk – it is famous at Teign School. We enjoyed it on the day as the weather was better than what we had faced on other walks!

Representatives from the charities visited Teign School in June (2019) to accept the money raised on the walk. The students collected an impressive total of £1,360, which was divided equally between the two chosen charities.

Headteacher, Suzannah Wharf, and the school’s Ten Tors Leader, David Bere, handed over the sponsorship money alongside ten students who completed the walk. Graham Gordon, Volunteer at Devon Air Ambulance, said:

This wonderful donation will enable us to continue to provide emergency services to the people of Devon. Thanks to the fantastic students for raising such a great amount of money.

Alec Collyer MBE (Chairman of the Dartmoor Rescue Group) said:

All four Dartmoor rescue teams are reliant on donations. Each team takes £20,000 per year to run and we get no statutory funding. Therefore, donations such as this are essential for us to continue to provide a service.

Last year it cost £7.5 million to keep the service running, and this is only made possible by our incredible supporters. Would your school like to get involved in supporting us? We'd love to hear from you. 

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