Students from a school in Kings Langley have taken part in a gruelling walk in order to raise money for two causes close to their hearts.

More than 400 pupils and staff from Rudolf Steiner School in Langley Hill put on their walking shoes on Friday morning to raise money for The Hospice of St Francis and The Goderich Waldorf School in Sierra Leone.

Amomg those taking part in the 15-mile walk from Tring to Kings Langley was A-level student Rachel Giambrone.

Rachel, 18, who plans to study art at university, said: “It was lots of fun and we’ve supported two really fantastic causes. The Hospice of St Francis nursed a former teacher – Heather Thomas, who died from cancer and this walk was in part in memory of her.

“I also lost a family member to cancer, my uncle David Wilson, when I was eight, so I also took part in the walk in memory of him as well.

“The other half of the money we’ve raised from the walk will go to a Rudolf Steiner school in Sierra Leone. We’ve been holding lots of fundraisers to help the school as it is very poor and needs as much money as possible to buy equipment for teaching.”

There were three walks - four-mile, seven-mile and 15-mile - which were undertaken by students aged from three to 18.

Despite the long trek, the students said they did not have to physically prepare themselves for the walk.

Luan Koll, 18, who hopes to join the army, said: “I play football and do athletics a couple of times a week for an hour or so, but apart from that I didn’t really exercise for the walk as such.

"It was really fun to be walking with more people as you could talk - which didn’t make it seem as long as it actually was."

Toby Bilton, 18, of Lay Hill, added: “"It was really good. It got quite tiring towards the end and my calves were burning, but it was really enjoyable talking to people, quite relaxed and obviously the money we’ve raised is going to a good cause."

Rudolf Steiner School held a sponsored walk last year and raised around £7,000 - all of which went to the hospice.

Although students haven’t set themselves a target this year, they hope to beat last year’s total and will keep collecting cash until July 5.

Steffi Cook, teacher and walk organiser, said: “Although the walk was on a school day, it is not a disruption to the students’ learning - we wanted everyone to get as involved as possible.

“We believe it is an opportunity for our students to support the community and these are wonderful causes which we are keen to help in any way that we can.”

To find out more about the Hospice of St Francis visit: http://www.stfrancis.org.uk/ To help support the Goderich Waldorf School visit http://www.rsskl.org/community-events/connecting-continents.aspx