Chester primary school children have put their best foot forward to help raise awareness about mitochondrial disease, a genetic condition that affects one baby born every day in the UK.

Pupils at St Martin’s Academy in Chester wrote messages of support on their bare feet for the Bare Your Sole campaign, organised by The Lily Foundation as part of Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week.

The pupils’ ‘toe-nations’ have been included in an online gallery showing hundreds of similar photos sent in by members of the public.

Pupils from St. Martin's Academy wrote messages of support on their bare feet for the Bare Your Sole campaign

TV stars including Lucy Speed, Phil Tufnell, Josh Widicombe and cast members from Emmerdale have also joined in the campaign.

St Martin’s school teacher Elinor Bowler said: “The Lily Foundation is a charity that’s really close to our heart here at St Martin’s. We have some pupils here who have a sibling with mitochondrial disease, so the children were very happy to take part and help raise awareness.”

Readers can take part by posting their photos on social media with the hashtag #MitoAware2017 or upload directly to the website at www.thelilyfoundation.org.uk/mitoaware2017.

The Lily Foundation was founded in 2007 by Liz Curtis in memory of her daughter Lily, who died from mitochondrial disease at eight-months-old.

Pupils from St. Martin's Academy wrote messages of support on their bare feet for the Bare Your Sole campaign

Today it is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to fighting mitochondrial disease, with a mission to support people whose lives are affected by the condition, raise awareness and fund research into its prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

The charity currently supports 321 families affected by mitochondrial disease and has invested over £1 million into medical research with partners including the NHS and Wellcome Trust.

Mitochondrial disease is a severely life-limiting genetic condition that can affect any person at any age.

The term refers not to one specific illness but to a number of diseases caused by faulty mitochondria, the tiny ‘organelles’ present in every cell in our bodies which are responsible for generating the energy we need to live.

Pupils from St. Martin's Academy wrote messages of support on their bare feet for the Bare Your Sole campaign

When mitochondria fail it can affect any part of the body in a variety of devastating ways, including poor growth, muscle weakness, seizures, gastrointestinal issues, learning disabilities and ultimately organ failure.

There is currently no cure for mitochondrial disease.

However, important steps have been made to make diagnosis faster, easier and less invasive to the patient, and some promising research into effective treatments is underway.