A marathon mum who flew out to Africa to help raise money to fight poverty has been given a celebrity boost as she takes her project into a Cookham school.

Cookham Running member, journalist and mum of two Sarah Parfitt has helped children at Holy Trinity School in Cookham raise money for the Ethiopian community she visited last month.

And after TV newsreader Michael Buerk recorded an appeal for the charity Partners For Change on Radio 4, the newsreader sent a message of support to pupils urging them to keep up the good work.

Holy Trinity have been doing their but to help their counterparts in Ethiopa, who were given an identical monkey to match their own school mascot, Monty.

And Mrs Parfitt says she hopes the two schools can strike up a friendship which can beneficial to everyone.

She said: "I am hoping to go back, because I hope it can be a two-way process.

"We can help the kids in Ethiopia, but they have things they can teach our children too.

"They have got really good skills, so I wanted to do some workshops with the children from Holy Trinity School."

In February, Mrs Parfitt travelled to poverty-stricken Gende Tesfa where she helped train a group of community journalists in the area, which has been hit by leprosy.

She said she now hopes the youngsters will make contact with the children in Gende Tesfa via letter.

An active runner and blogger, Mrs Parfitt is keeping a blog to keep donors informed about her fundraising.

She is preparing for her 14th London marathon, which she will run in support of charity Partners for Change.

And the race will be an emotional one for the avid runner, who suffered a cartilage injury just two miles from the finish line last year.

She said: "I’ve run 13 marathons in the past and last year I got the injury and had an operation.

"I am going to run the London Marathon this month and I’ve been told that because of this injury this is going to be my last ever marathon.

"So, running around for twelve years, this being the last marathon is very sad news."

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Parfitt1