Graeme won't rue his Paris bike trek

MOST parents will go that extra mile to help out with their child's education.

One parent, however, is going an extra 500 miles to help raise funds for his daughters' school.

Graeme Bruce is cycling all the way to Paris to gain enough sponsorship to buy a new interactive whiteboard for Balerno High School, which his daughters Annabel and Claudia both attend.

The father-of-three set off on Friday morning and aims to be in Paris by Saturday afternoon, cycling around 60 miles a day to complete the challenge.

Mr Bruce, 47, decided he wanted to do something to help Balerno High and asked the parent council what it needed most.

He was told the school would benefit from a new whiteboard and has already raised the 2000 in sponsorship that he needs to pay for the whiteboard and installation costs.

The application specialist from Balerno said: "I have been eight years on the gala committee and like to help out in the local community.

"I just felt like I needed a new challenge and thought I would do something for the school.

"They (whiteboards] cost about 2000 including all the installation costs and I've managed to raise just over 2000, so I have made the target before I leave.

"My daughters are quite impressed by it all. I'm sure all the kids at the school and whichever lucky teacher gets the board will be pleased too.

"The parent council have been absolutely delighted and have given me so much help and support.

"All the people who sponsored me are really happy I'm doing it and I'm sure the school will get a lot of benefit out of it."

The keen cyclist added: "I have done a couple of hundred miles in the past but never 500 miles so this will really be something else.

"I will be averaging 60 miles a day and hope to arrive in Paris on Saturday, September 4. It will be tough, it's definitely not going to be easy."

The Evening News revealed last month the extent to which parental contributions help buy new technology for schools.

Half of all primary schools in the Capital have interactive whiteboards in classrooms thanks to parent fundraising.

A total of 45 schools have benefited from fundraising efforts, with all of them having at least one parent-funded whiteboard, while others have been completely paid for through donations.

Only a third of primaries have whiteboards that were paid for solely through school funds.Francis Barkey, chair of Balerno High's parent council, said: "It's very unfortunate that parents have to go to the lengths of cycling to Paris to buy a Smart Board but it just goes to show the commitment of the parents.

"Most Smart Boards are bought through parent fundraising activities rather than through school funds."