Primary school pupils gave a warm welcome to three sporting heroes taking part in a bike ride to raise funds for SportsAid.

Students at Great Totham Primary School were able to meet and greet Paralympic 800m champion Danny Crates and Olympic medallists, Jess Eddie and Richard Hounslow, as they cycled through the village during a ride from London to Bruges.

The trio were part of a team of 47 riders who were raising funds for the SportsAid programme which seeks to give youngsters greater opportunities to succeed in sport.

Students high-fived the cyclists, posed for pictures and chatted with the riders before waving them off through the Essex countryside ahead of the rest of their journey.

Sports leader Neil Quilter admitted it had been an exciting occasion for all involved.

He said: “We found out this was going to happen and it was a great exciting time for all the children, they really looked forward to it and the reaction of everyone around here was phenomenal. It just showed you how excited we were.

“It’s nice for the cyclists as well – they had a long way to travel and hopefully getting a reaction like that spurred them on.

“It’s great to bring a lot of sports like cycling in and how fitness is important to the children as much as education.

“It’s good for fitness, it’s something we should all be doing and it was just a fabulous day.”

Danny Crates is one of Great Totham’s most well known residents, having claimed gold in the Paralympic games held in Athens in 2004.

He added: “When I looked at the route and saw it was going through my home town, Great Totham, past my local pub, but more importantly past the school where my children go, it was brilliant.

“It’s a very sporty school and I knew they’d be absolutely stoked if we could bring a lot of riders through, a couple of Olympians, they’d give them a great welcome.

“It was a truly fantastic welcome.”

The ride had been organised by the Royal Bank of Canada.

The firm, one of the largest banks in the world and Canada’s largest bank by market capitalization, partners with SportsAid to provide annual financial support, ongoing mentoring and deserved recognition to 50 young talented British athletes looking to fulfil their sporting ambitions.

For more, visit www.rbccm.com/europe/