A TEAM will be pounding the pavements on a mammoth challenge to inspire Hampshire schoolchildren.

Staff from PBED, which operates through Mountbatten School and provides a personal development scheme for local pupils, are taking on a 131-mile run across the country in just four days.

They want to raise awareness of the National Citizen Service to schoolchildren across Hampshire to get more youngsters involved.

Starting at their activities centre in Devon on May 31, they will run west finishing at the Mountbatten School, in Romsey.

Jack Cabala, from Romsey, Danny Smith, from Hedge End, Dan Ripman, from Southampton, Connor Natella, from Southampton, and James Westwood, from Hook, are taking part and aim to cover 40 miles a day. They have already begun training.

Not only did they want to promote the project, staff wanted to make their own contribution and provide an example to the youngsters that they are trying to inspire.

Their efforts will be raising money for Southampton General Hospital’s Piam Brown paediatric cancer ward with a target of £1,300.

The NCS scheme, which is a national initiative put forward by Government, operates over four weeks in the summer and is designed for those who have just completed their GCSEs and have a long summer holiday ahead.

It brings together pupils from all different backgrounds from across the county.

PBED takes around 1,500 pupils a year, including around 60 from Mountbatten and a high number from the Romsey School.

The trip takes the 16 and 17-year-olds to Devon for team bonding exercises and activities like surfing down in Devon, followed by a week of workshops in Hampshire.

In the final week the young people, who are in groups of 15, decide what they are going to do to make a difference in their community, whether helping at a care home, helping the homeless or fundraising for charity.

PBED is owned by Mountbatten School, but has now moved to offices in Chandler’s Ford.

It runs a number of school-based schemes like Bikeability at schools in Hampshire.

Dave Burchett, PBED’s Director of Business and Innovation, said: “We recognised the need to do more to give something back and the second part was to raise awareness of the programme and get more people to sign up to it.

“It’s such a fantastic opportunity and it doesn’t come along again.”

To sponsor the team visit justgiving.com/PBEDTeam.

To find out more about the National Citizen Service call 01794 510225.