A BROOKWOOD schoolgirl has raised more than £200 for her ballet school by running laps of Goldsworth Park Lake.

Edie Rosser, aged five, covered five kilometres as she completed four circuits recently, encouraged by her family, mum Kyleigh, dad Ben and elder brother Ellis, who is six.

“It wasn’t the best day with all the rain, but Edie was fantastic, she just kept going,” said Kyleigh. “She has so much energy we were all struggling to keep up with her.

“She took the odd break to walk a few steps, but it wasn’t very often. She never complained at all. We’re all so proud of her.

“She even threw in a couple of ballet moves on the way round to show us what she’d learnt in class.”

There were even a few young friends who had made posters and braved the rain to cheer on Edie, who attends Beaufort Primary School.

Edie’s “Raising The Barre” run was to help Woking-based dance school BKD Performers install a ballet barre to assist pupils’ progress.

Her efforts were warmly welcomed by BKD’s founder Catherine Francis, universally known as Miss Cathie.

“We use Kingfield School for classes and they’ve allowed us to put in a permanent barre, but of course we have to raise the funds to pay for that,” Cathie said.

“That’s why we’re so grateful to Edie and to all those who have made efforts on our behalf. We need about £1,500 in total and at the moment have about £800.

“The plan is to raise the money by the summer holidays so the work can be done then. Even if we can’t do everything, we’re using equipment that can be added to as we go along.”

Cathie is, she says, “blown away” by the support she has had, now and during lockdown.

“When we had to stop the classes I did wonder if we’d make it. Fortunately, we moved everything to Zoom very quickly and the children supported us from the start.

“It wasn’t easy because clearly people had their own difficulties at that time, but in the end we felt we just couldn’t let them down.”

It’s a message that Kyleigh appreciates, and hopes that Edie too can understand.

“I’m so pleased Edie has done her run because it shows her what be achieved when people help each other, what we can all do when we pull together.”  

* TO donate to Edie’s “Raising the Barre” run, visit https://gofund.me/91931da4