A FUNDRAISER from Dorset is taking on an epic challenge to raise money for children with additional needs.

The mother-of-five, Rachel Goodfellow, 49, from Sher-borne, will run 215 miles in seven days through the county to raise money for the charity she founded, the Hidden Needs Trust.

Her run will take her from the Trent Young’s Endowed Primary School near Sher-borne, through Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Bridport, Port-land, Weymouth, Swanage, Wareham and Dorchester before finishing the marathon mission back at the school.

Mrs Goodfellow will have to run and walk more than 30 miles each day from June 25 in order to complete her mission as she tries to raise as much money for the charity.

She launched the Hidden Needs Trust in September last year to help children of pre-school age who have medical and educational needs, and the name is meant to reflect that a lot of the needs the children have are not obvious.

The charity hosts two ‘opportunity’ groups in Dorchester and Blandford to give the children a chance to play and be taught in a safe and stimulating environment with their families. It is completely self-funded and all funds raised from Mrs Goodfellow’s marathon challenge will be donated to the charity.

Mrs Goodfellow said: “Every year we have a massive shortfall of money and each year we do a lot of fundraising projects to raise money. We struggle to get money through grants because our service is both educational and medical we have to survive on donations.

“Dorset is such a big, rural county and we have children from all over coming to the groups in Dorchester and Blandford so the groups are vitally important.”

As well as the fundraising run, Mrs Goodfellow is also organising charity events to be held at various locations during her run to raise further funds for the charity during the race.

She will host a mass musical chairs in West Bay, a fundraising event on Weymouth seafront in association with the Pavilion plus a number of evening functions in Lyme Regis, Portland and Swanage.

Mrs Goodfellow said she and the charity had received a lot of support ahead of the run. She said: “It’s been bonkers; we set up a Twitter account and it went a bit mad really, everyone is being really supportive and backing us and the events.

“A lot of the event is running and a lot of it is walking, but I wanted to organise some events during the way so everyone can have a bit of fun. My thought is it is the summer, peak tourist season and we want to put on a fundraising challenge that will be remembered.”

Visit hiddenneedstrust.org