A TEAM of school pupils from Plume Academy are taking on the Maldon Mud Race to raise money for their teacher’s charity.

Joe Lane, Ben Crook, Matthew Thomson, Alex Longhurst and Emma Pond are a group of year 11 and year 12 students from Maldon’s Plume Academy who have formed their team “Wilko’s Warriors” to raise money for The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation.

The foundation was set up by their product design teacher Helen Wilkinson, and aims to raise awareness of sudden cardiac death in the young. and fund things such as heart screenings and defibrillator training.

Ms Wilkinson set up the charity in memory of her brother, Daniel, who died in September 2016 - aged 24 - whilst playing football from the underlying heart condition Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC).

Alex Longhurst said: “Through completing the Maldon Mud Race, our aim is to raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death in the young and to provide funding towards heart screening, defibrillators and CPR/defibrillator training.

“Primarily, we want to support grass-roots sporting teams as tragedies like this can be prevented through cardiac screening.

“To us, it is vital that young people who may be at risk are identified and treated.” It is such a devastating condition that has effected many people already and we wish to prevent this as much as possible.”

ARVC is an inherited condition which causes the replacement of cardiac muscle with fibrous, fatty tissue, causing the walls in the heart chamber to become thin and stretched. impacting how the blood is pumped around the body and causing abnormal heart rhythms which can lead to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).

It is found in one in 1,000 to 5,000 young adults.

Helen Wilkinson said: “Five of these students are my product design pupils at Plume, so I am extremely proud they have taken it upon themselves to complete it.

“Not only are they grouping together for a great cause, but they’re doing the race for something that means so much to me, and will for other families affected by it.”

The Mud Race takes place on Sunday in Promenade Park at 3.30pm.

Go to justgiving.com/fundraising/wilkoswarriers to donate.