A County Armagh charity has exceeded its £10,000 fundraising target after a day-long running event on the Mall in Armagh city.

Reach Mentoring held its ‘Share the Load, Carry the Weight’ event on Saturday, with nine teams completing five-kilometre laps every hour from 9am to 6pm. Each team covered 45 kilometres over the course of the day.

The event was designed to symbolise the support the charity offers young people. Some participants ran the entire distance individually, while others shared the effort among team members. The charity’s chief executive, Jonny Hampton, completed the full 45 kilometres wearing a weighted vest.

The money raised will fund approximately 870 one-to-one mentoring sessions for school pupils. Reach Mentoring works in 54 schools across seven hub areas: Banbridge, Lurgan, Central Craigavon, Portadown, Armagh, Dungannon and Magherafelt. Its programme is entirely funded by donations from trusts, churches, businesses and individuals.

Mr Hampton thanked everyone who took part, donated or provided support. He also acknowledged Malcolm Kingston of St Mark’s Church of Ireland for the use of Crozier Hall and the Mall Trustees for their cooperation.

The charity said it would continue to accept donations to expand its reach, as the funding directly determines how many young people it can assist.