Children from Tyn-Y-Wern Primary School, in Trethomas, have raised more than £1,000 for charity Help For Heroes.
Pupils from nursery to Year Six took part in a sponsored walk for ex-corporal Malcolm Price-Davies. The former soldier is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with father in-law Martin Price for the armed forces charity and Combat Stress.
Malcolm suffers from mental health problems after being discharged from the Royal Logistics Corps five years ago and wants to give back to the charities that helped him.
He said: “I don’t sleep because the things I saw always stay with me. The evidence shows that only thanks to Help For Heroes and Combat Stress I am still around telling my story and raising money.
“I’m speechless at the amount of money I received from the kids.”
Martin received the cheque at a school assembly on April 11 after telling pupils his story earlier in the term which inspired them to raise money.
Headteacher Steve Noel said he was thrilled to hand over the cheque and proud of his students.
He said: “It was a wonderful effort as a school, we are extremely proud to be part of it and the reaction we had from the community was fantastic.”
Pupils at Pontllanfraith High School raised £205 while Graig-Y-Rhacca Primary School raised £177 towards Martin’s expedition and Bedwas Community College raised £50.
The pair aim to reach a target of £7,000 by climbing the Tanzanian mountain in September. To donate visit www.bmycharity.com/MalcolmPriceDavies.