A teacher at a school in Wareham will be running the London Marathon this year for a children's rugby charity.

Gareth Biddle is a PE teacher at The Purbeck School in Wareham. He has lived in West Dorset since 2002 and has previously worked at Budmouth College in Weymouth.

He will be taking part in the 2019 Virgin London Marathon to raise money for Wooden Spoon. His fundraising target from the charity is to raise £2,000 but he hopes to exceed this.

The charity, based in Hampshire, is currently celebrating 35 years of working on a national scale to provide opportunities for disadvantaged and disabled children to get into rugby.

Dorchester RFC is a partner club to Wooden Spoon and the club provides opportunities for men, women and children to take part in the sport.

Mr Biddle is a former player at the club and he still volunteers as a coach for the men's teams. The money raised will stay within West Dorset and will support a local community project centred on improving the provision for either disadvantaged or disabled children.

Gareth has been supported by Goulds Department Stores for one of his fundraising projects. They have donated 100 wooden spoons for Gareth to run a children’s art competition, ‘Design a Wooden Spoon for Wooden Spoon’.

He said: "I was out on a practice run when this idea came to me to try to include the local children with my fundraising. I took the idea to Goulds and I'm hugely grateful to them for their support with this competition".

A spokesperson from Goulds said: "We are delighted to support Gareth with this. He is promoting local sport and trying to raise money that will stay and be used in our locality. We wish him all the best with his marathon in April and his fundraising beforehand".

Children and parents can buy their wooden spoon for £3 in Goulds Household Store in South St Dorchester with all the money raised going to Gareth's appeal.

The competition is now open and will be running until Friday, February 22.

If you wish to read more about Gareth’s marathon story or donate to his appeal please visit virginmoneygiving.com/GarethBiddle