{"id":32097,"date":"2026-04-28T14:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/?p=32097"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:08:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:08:46","slug":"crawley-primary-school-teacher-completes-london-marathon-for-disadvantaged-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/crawley-primary-school-teacher-completes-london-marathon-for-disadvantaged-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Crawley Primary School Teacher Completes London Marathon for Disadvantaged Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"32097\" class=\"elementor elementor-32097\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0566633 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0566633\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ddc147f elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"ddc147f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"220\" height=\"309\" src=\"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/Southgate-1.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-32100\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/Southgate-1.png 220w, https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/Southgate-1-214x300.png 214w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ada8b5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2ada8b5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h5><strong>Assistant Head runs fourth marathon after school raises nearly \u00a3250 in its own Mini Marathon event<\/strong><\/h5><p>A teacher from Southgate Primary School in Crawley completed the London Marathon on Sunday 27 April, raising funds for disadvantaged pupils as part of a wider fundraising effort that began in the school&#8217;s own playground.<\/p><p>Gary Smallman, Assistant Headteacher at Southgate Primary School, part of the GLF Schools\u2019 multi-academy trust, ran the 26.2-mile race for the GLF Schools&#8217; Foundation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c1239b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2c1239b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5b0f7e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d5b0f7e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Foundation aims to\u00a0 provide disadvantaged children with access to sporting, musical and enrichment experiences they might not otherwise be able to afford.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Sunday&#8217;s marathon was Mr Smallman&#8217;s fourth, and follows a community fundraising event held at the school in the days before the race, in which pupils ran a mile alongside their parents to raise funds for the Foundation. The in-school Mini Marathon raised \u00a3245.75.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>The event also held special significance because of the link between the school and the London Marathon Foundation, which previously invested in a &#8216;mile-a-day&#8217; running track in the school&#8217;s Key Stage 2 playground. The facility now forms part of everyday life for Southgate pupils.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Mr Smallman said:<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>&#8220;I am truly privileged to be running for the GLF Schools&#8217; Foundation, who support so many of our incredible pupils. I have seen their impact first-hand at Southgate Primary School.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>\u201cI was also fortunate to receive a place from the London Marathon Foundation, who have generously invested in our school by funding a &#8216;mile-a-day&#8217; track in our Key Stage 2 playground.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>\u201cThe thought of running for our pupils to give them enriched experiences and opportunities makes every mile worthwhile.&#8221;<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Mr Smallman was one of two GLF Schools\u2019 teachers to run this year&#8217;s London Marathon for the Foundation. Andrew Burbidge, Headteacher at Banstead Infants School, also took part, with both having secured their places via ballot.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Established in 2022, the GLF Schools&#8217; Foundation works to minimise the socio-economic barriers that prevent young people from accessing a breadth of beneficial activities and experiences.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Across GLF schools, approximately 4,000 pupils &#8211; almost 20% of the total &#8211; are recognised as disadvantaged, and the Foundation exists to ensure that background never limits opportunity.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Jak Martin, Foundation Director, said:<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re very grateful to Gary and Andrew for their huge commitment and their fundraising. The Foundation is all about ensuring all pupils have the experiences they deserve regardless of their background, whether that be in music, sport or trips.&#8221;<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assistant Head runs fourth marathon after school raises nearly \u00a3250 in its own Mini Marathon event A teacher from Southgate Primary School in Crawley completed the London Marathon on Sunday 27 April, raising funds for disadvantaged pupils as part of a wider fundraising effort that began in the school&#8217;s own playground. Gary Smallman, Assistant Headteacher [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[958],"tags":[],"directory-category":[],"event_categories":[],"class_list":["post-32097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fundraising"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 18:18:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32097"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32103,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32097\/revisions\/32103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32097"},{"taxonomy":"directory-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory-category?post=32097"},{"taxonomy":"event_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event_categories?post=32097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}