CORONATION Street star Sally Dynevor swapped the cobbles of Weatherfield for Wellington School to launch its annual sponsored walk.

The star turned up in Timperley to set off 1,350 students on their 10 mile sponsored walk in aid of Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention which is based at Wythenshawe Hospital.

Staff and students hope to have raised in excess of £30,000 from the event which saw sixth formers take to the streets in fancy dress.

Now in its 18th year, the annual sponsored walk is the main fundraising event in the School’s calendar and results in a huge windfall for a local charity. Over £350,000 has been raised by students since its inception.

Sally said: “As patron, I have long been a supporter of the tremendous work undertaken by Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention and I am very happy to have been here to represent them. This has been a truly fantastic event.”

She continued: “To see such an incredible turnout of pupils of all ages doing their bit to raise money for others is genuinely heart-warming, especially considering the bitterly cold conditions.”

“I very much enjoyed my visit and look forward to hearing whether the school has managed to achieve their fundraising target for the day.”

Stuart Beeley, headteacher of Wellington School said: “It has been fabulous to have someone as well-known as Sally to start this year’s walk and it has really given the pupils a lift.”

He added: “As always, we are hopeful that we will raise at least as much money as last year. We are grateful that we are able to rely on the generosity of our students, their families and the local community to help us hit our target but we are confident we will get there. Genesis is such a worthy cause and we are looking forward to making a significant contribution to their work.’