THE Big Learner Relay visited Callington last week as part of a 3,000-mile charity relay around the UK to raise money for BBC Children in Need.

The event, first held in November 2014, started this year in Northern Ireland on Monday, October 26, finishing in Swindon on Friday, November 13, to coincide with BBC Children in Need appeal day.

The convoy was accompanied by police in partnership with The Honest Truth – a group dedicated to reducing anti-social driving and the number of young people killed or seriously injured on the roads.

The leg started in Bristol on Wednesday November 11 and worked its way down to Launceston where the drive to Callington began.

The relay, held over a 15 day period with more than 180 lead cars and hundreds more instructors and pupils joining the convoy, has so far raised more than £90,000.

Louise Walsh thought of the idea for a Big Learner Relay while watching Children in Need on television in 2013.

This year she travelled in every lead car so was able to see all parts of the relay first hand.

Louise, from?Southampton, said: ‘I’m still on a high really and it doesn’t just stop because the relay has stopped. Our current total is around £92,000, we went in with a target of £65,000 but to watch it go up by a few thousand every time we checked on the last day was great. We do plan to repeat it next year as it is good not just for individuals but driving instructors too.

‘I want to say a big thank you to all the driving instructors, thanks for all the donations and handover locations. Thanks to the local communities and the police who joined in the convoy of 56 cars on the last day when we hit the magic roundabout in Swindon!’

Times reporter Shannon Hards was a learner driver on the Callington leg, she said: ‘It was great to be involved in such a unique fundraising event. I felt like I was helping others with the money raised but also improving my own driving and confidence – particularly as my leg of the relay was held in the dark!’