On Sunday 28th August 2016 fifty teams from across the country will be racing their home-made soapbox carts down the steep cobbles street of Micklegate.  Sponsored by café Your Bike Shed, Friends of Scarcroft School have constructed their own unique cart, all in support of Candlelighters!

Looking to the pupils of Scarcroft Primary School for inspiration, a design competition saw over 300 children throughout the school draw their own ideas for how the cart might look. There were some incredible ideas, ranging from a Millenium Falcon to a giant blue whale, however a winning idea was selected based on two Viking Longship designs by pupils Frances, Conall, Kathryn and Emma.

Since that day it has been go, go, go! The soapbox team, with the support of Your Bike Shed, have already constructed their incredible Viking cart which was unveiled at the team’s launch at Scarcroft Primary School on Friday 22nd July.

The team have also got to work promoting their JustGiving raffle – an online raffle which will see the winner be awarded the cart post-race! This raffle will be raising funds for Candlelighters, to help support those families in Yorkshire affected by childhood cancer.

Explaining why the team has decided to support Candlelighters, deputy head teacher of Scarcroft School Jenny Houlton said “In September the School Council looked at a number of different charities to decide which to support. We chose Candlelighters because they work with children, many of whom are the same age as children at our school. They also provided support for one of our pupils, so it is a charity that is very close to our hearts.”

Community Fundraiser Chloe was thrilled to be a part of the project, visiting the school to lead an assembly on Candlelighters’ work and joining the team at Your Bike Shed for the unveiling of the children’s designs. Talking about the project Chloe said “We are really pleased that the Friends of Scarcroft School have chosen to support Candlelighters at the debut Micklegate Run Soapbox Challenge. This is a really exciting event and a fantastic opportunity to raise both funds and awareness for childhood cancer in the York region. Scarcroft School has organised a number of different fundraising events for Candlelighters over the years; we really appreciate all of their efforts and look forward to continuing working alongside them.”

To find out more about the Micklegate Run Soapbox Challenge visit the event’s website.