“I don’t think we celebrate our young people enough”

There's a quote that keeps coming back when you think about what a group of Blackpool Sixth Form students achieved this year. It came from the Mayor of Blackpool, Cllr Kim Critchley, speaking at the launch of Target 10K, a brand new initiative in which eight teams of BTEC Uniformed Protective Services students each chose a local charity, planned their own fundraising challenge from scratch, and set out to raise £10,000 between them.

"I just don't think we celebrate our young people enough. We don't give them enough credit. It should be a celebration."

She's right. And this is that celebration.

Paul Moran, one of Blackpool Sixth Form's Protective Services tutors, put the idea to his students back in September with a simple but powerful message. "This is nothing that can be marked or part of any assessment," he told them, "but if you do it, the benefits will be lifelong." They were on board from the very start, choosing their own charities, learning about their work first-hand, and then, in March, delivering. No template. No hand-holding. Just young people deciding what matters to them and doing something about it. What followed was a masterclass in empathy, resilience, and community spirit.

These are their stories.

Walking for the men who can't

When Charlie, Jake, Josh, and Zac, team Miles4Minds, attended a local suicide prevention conference and met Michael Shepherd, the man behind Elliot's Place, they heard a statistic that stopped them in their tracks. Between 2022 and 2024, 50 men in Blackpool lost their lives to suicide. They decided then and there that this was the cause they wanted to fight for.

Elliot's Place is a Blackpool charity named in memory of a friend lost to suicide, providing free weekly group sessions where men can come together, support one another, and simply talk. On 10th March, Miles4Minds walked 30 miles through Blackpool and its surrounding areas, through Fleetwood, Poulton, and beyond, carrying cards with information about the charity to hand out to people they met along the way.

One man ran back to them after receiving a card. He said he'd been struggling with his mental health, and he was going to sign up for the sessions.

"Even just that one person shows how much of a difference it can make," said Jake.

The team also reached out to local businesses for support, and Elite Competitions responded with a donation of £2,000. In total, Miles4Minds raised £3,515, enough, Michael told them, to fund a full year of boxing sessions at Elliot's Place.

When asked why men their age find it so hard to speak up, the answer was honest and considered. Jake explained, "You just want to seem tough, like you can handle it yourself. But that's not the case. Everyone needs someone. If you bottle it up, it's not good for you, and it's not good for the people around you either."

Castle to Tower: 30 Miles, One Day, One Purpose

Shayne, Will, Abby, and Fraser, team Castle to Tower, also chose Elliot's Place. Their challenge was to walk from Lancaster Castle to Blackpool Tower in a single day: 30 miles, starting at 6am, finishing 12-and-a-half hours later.

But the moment that defined their journey happened before the walk even took place. When they visited Elliot's Place to meet Michael, he had to rush out mid-meeting. A man had reached out feeling he was going to take his own life, and Michael had gone to him.

"It just showed how every day he goes to work not knowing what he might have to face," said Will.

On the day of the walk, they carried a large banner displaying the Elliot's Place name. Drivers beeped as they passed. Friends and family waited at Blackpool Tower to meet them at the end. When they hit their mental blocks, and they all did at different points, they thought about the men Elliot's Place supports, and kept going.

They raised £1,800. The money, Michael told them, would go towards planning future sessions and securing the long-term future of the charity.

Pedalling through for children's end-of-life care

Euan, Charlie, Neil, and Kasey, Pedal for Palliative, took on one of the most physically demanding challenges of the entire initiative. Inspired by Brian House Children's Hospice's upcoming 30th anniversary, they chose to cycle for 30 hours across three consecutive days, 10 hours each day, in at 7:30am, out at 5pm, then back again the next morning to do it all over.

Two people on bikes at a time, rotating throughout the day. The hardest part, they said, was keeping themselves entertained.

"Knowing that you're finishing the day and just thinking you've finished, but you're not. You've got to go back and do the same again," said Charlie.

Brian House themselves shared posts about the challenge, bringing in donations from people who simply wanted to support the charity. The team started with £300 before the event and finished on £1,826.

"More people will support you than you expect," says Euan. "Especially family and friends."

Superheroes for children who are real heroes

Izzy, Charlie, Dylan, and Matthew, The Den Team, chose to support The Den, a charity working with children in Blackpool who have experienced domestic violence. Rates of domestic violence on the Fylde Coast are above the national average. The Den is stretched thin, and the children it supports sometimes have never had the chance to visit somewhere as simple as Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Their fundraising took them somewhere unexpected: into primary schools across the area, dressed in superhero costumes, hosting dress-up days and talking to young children about The Den's work. The challenge of addressing domestic violence in a way that was honest but age-appropriate led them to a powerful idea.

"Everyone who overcomes domestic violence is a hero," explained Charlie.

The costumes weren't a gimmick. They were a statement.

They also completed a sponsored walk, engaging with the wider community along the way. By the time donations closed, they had raised just under £2,000, nearly double their original target. When they crossed that first £1,000 milestone, rather than stopping, they pushed harder.

"When we hit the thousand pounds, we were absolutely bewildered," said Charlie. "And then we thought, how far can we actually push this?"

Running through hail for women's safety

Nobody has quite admitted whose idea it was to run 30 kilometres. Since September, Caitlyn, Nicole, Katie, and Lily, 30K for Reclaim, had been quietly pointing at each other whenever anyone asked. Whatever the answer, they all showed up on the day, and they all finished.

Their challenge was a relay run from Fleetwood YMCA to Lytham Windmill, raising money for Reclaim, a Blackpool charity working to end sexual harassment and violence against women, running regular workshops and organising the annual Reclaim the Night march each November.

They chose Reclaim because the cause is personal. As four young women who have all experienced harassment or catcalling on the streets of Blackpool during their teenage years, it felt important that it was them standing up for this cause.

The weather on the day was dreadful. Hail on the promenade. Wind off the sea. Sand. Biting cold. Sleet at the finish. Their teacher offered them an out: finish the last stretch on treadmills indoors. They said no.

"We were determined to finish what we started," said Caitlyn.

Their teacher gathered them all back onto the bus halfway through to tell them they'd hit £1,000. They'd started the day on £940, raising the final £100 while out running in the cold. They finished on just over £1,000, raised entirely without a corporate sponsor.
"It's such a nice feeling knowing that we're 17 and 18 and we've raised a thousand pounds, and done it as a group, and done it as friends," said Katie.

A seagull, a walk, and conversations that mattered

Lewis dressed as a seagull. It wasn't an accident. Team Solace Seagulls chose their name, their costume, and their approach with a clear purpose: if you want people to stop, talk, and engage with what you're doing, give them a reason to approach you.

Lewis, Oliver, Becky, and Angel walked 12 miles from Rossall Point to Lytham Pier over six hours, raising money for Solace, a charity supporting people bereaved by suicide. As they walked the promenade, members of the public came to them and opened up about their own experiences of losing someone. It was, the students admitted, unexpectedly emotional.

"It was quite eye-opening. It brought us a bit emotional," said Lewis.

They raised around £200, and every step of those 12 miles was walked regardless, because the cause was bigger than the total.

Bake sales, bag packs, and the power of showing up

Cayden, Katie, Maddy, Marc, Tia, and Jamie, Brighter Skies for Blackpool, chose Blue Skies, the charity that supports patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital by enhancing their comfort and care. New chairs in A&E. Artwork on the walls. Small things that make a frightening experience a little more bearable.

They wanted to do something different from the outdoor physical challenges their peers were taking on, so they brought their fundraising inside: a bake sale in college, followed by a two-day bag pack at Morrisons with the police cadets. That bag pack alone raised over £600.

They raised £1,700 in total, crossing the £1,000 mark on the second day of their in-college events.

"It builds your own confidence as well as helping other people. It's really rewarding, and it's a powerful thing to do in your community," said Cayden.

Standing up for those who are gone

Jennifer, Zohra, Casey, and Jaiden were also drawn to Solace, driven by the same quiet conviction: that people grieving in this way deserve to be seen.

They held a bake sale in college, welcoming Bethany from Solace on the day to support them. And they witnessed something that stayed with them long after the tables were packed away: people who looked completely fine, smiling and going about their day, coming over to speak to the Solace representative about their own losses.

"You can't always see that something's wrong," said Jennifer. "It really raises awareness that you don't know what people are going through, because they just walk around with a smile on their face most of the time."

Their advice to anyone thinking about fundraising but doubting themselves? "Don't focus on how much you raise. Whatever you raise still helps them in the long run. Whether it's £5 or £1,000, it all matters to them either way."

What it all adds up to

Across eight teams, eight challenges, and months of planning, organising, walking, running, cycling, baking, and bag packing, these students raised thousands of pounds for charities doing vital work in their community. They did it while studying for their qualifications, managing their own lives, and in many cases drawing on personal experiences of loss, hardship, and the very issues their chosen charities exist to address.

They walked into primary schools in superhero costumes to talk to children about domestic violence. They dressed as seagulls on the promenade to start conversations about suicide. They cycled for 30 hours over three days for children in end-of-life care. They ran through hail for women's safety. They walked 30 miles to honour men who felt they had nowhere to turn.

"We really just took this and made it our own," one student said. "We put all our effort into it. We are proud at the end of the day to call it our own."

The story didn't end there. Last week, the students were hosted by the Mayor of Blackpool, Cllr Kim Critchley, at a Civic Reception at the Town Hall, where they were joined by representatives from every charity they had supported. By that point, the students had raised £12,767.14 between them. Then, on the night, local MP Chris Webb stepped in with a donation to round the total up to £14,000.

Paul Moran has been doing charity events for years. But he says this group of students has moved him in a way he didn't expect. "The way they conducted themselves, the journeys they went on, and the way they never moaned has inspired me more than they will ever know. These students are superstars, and deserve all the recognition that comes their way."

And with that, he left us with a thought that sums up everything this initiative has shown. "Young people can achieve anything. You just need to show them the door and give them the opportunity."

They should be proud. And so should we.

These are Blackpool Sixth Form students. This is the calibre of young people we are proud to have here, and proud to celebrate.