Children from the Waterside Taekwondo Club raised nearly £3,000 for the Melanoma Trust through a 12-hour sponsored kick marathon.

The students started at 7am and continued all the way through to 7pm, achieving an incredible 157,000 kicks on a padded target in that time.

They opted for that amount as it matched the number of people who lose their lives to cancer in the UK each year, while they also wanted to support a member of their club, Michael Green, who had lost his brother, Robert, to the disease.

Waterside Taekwondo Club Master Colin Graves said: “At the end of the day, many of the students were struggling to walk as some students had kicked the target non-stop for four hours.”

Hampshire Paralympian Aaron Phipps, who starred for Great Britain’s wheelchair rugby team at London 2012, was guest for the day, lending his support to the youngsters.

The Waterside Taekwondo Club is based in the Lymington, Totton, Blackfield, Applemore and Ringwood area. It is expanding in September, with new classes at Lordshill Community Centre for the 5-7 and 8-15 age groups.

Contact Graves on 07871 875254, or visit watersidetaekwondoclub.co.uk, for more information.