After her popular post on mental health and running Lesley Lewis joins us again to talk about the Whoopsa100 challenge and the Whoopsadaisy charity. Over to Lesley!…
Most people when they have had a shandy or 2 will be a bit loud, a bit stupid and suffer the hangover! Not me, well I do all that and more, but I also have a habit of agreeing to things that seem a good idea at the time like races, endurance events and back-to-back ultra-marathon’s!…So it was at The Run Squad Christmas party that Magda our resident running machine, not content with having already run 4 marathons in 4 weeks and a zillion other things to fundraise, decided she shouldn’t rest on her laurels but think of a new plan to raise money for charity. She decided that 100 miles run over 3 days along the south downs way would be as good idea as any! Magda shared her plan with the rest of our running group, I was one of those that said, “yes” and the rest, as they say, is history!..
On a more serious note I’m really pleased, proud, challenged and incredibly nervous to be part of a team of runners, running to raise money for Whoopsadaisy a small charity based in Brighton that works with children and their families who are living with conditions such as Cerebral Palsy and other motor challenges. Whoopsadaisy works with these children using an approach known as Conductive Education, a teaching and learning focused approach based around the individual child. This has had some amazing life changing effects on children’s lives. Children have learnt to walk when they had initially been told that this wasn’t possible for them. To find out more about the incredible work that Whoopsadaisy does, go to www.whoopsadaisy.org
Conductive Education that Whoopsadaisy offers is not available on the NHS and Whoopsadaisy receives no statutory funding. It is funded by Whoopsadaisy costing approximately £3500 per year per child, at no cost to the families. Currently they need to raise £140000 a year.
The Run Squad (the group I run with) has been raising money for this charity for the last couple of years. We have a fundraising target of £25,000 for 2016, (and £50,000 for 2017) £5000 of which we are aiming to raise by running the South Downs way on the 15th,16th,17th July this year.10 of us are running the whole distance, we are being supported by other members of TRS who will run on different days. There is a small support team who will be looking after the aid stations, transporting equipment and generally making sure we are all safe and in one piece. This project is completely self-supported and funded. We need to make sure that all of the money raised goes to the children who need it. So as well as asking for donations and sponsorships (see the links below) We are also looking for more practical support such as funding for leaflets t-shirts, use of transport, food, massages (or is that just me!) for the runners etc. plus any support /advice/information that can be offered.
This is going to be an incredible experience for all those involved with this challenge, the aim is to raise as much money as we can for this inspirational charity. We can’t all run the South Downs way but you still be a part of this journey by donating and supporting us.
Let’s run for those who can’t!
For further information or to contact Whoopsa100 email [email protected], like our Whoopsa100 community page on facebook or follow us on Twitter @whoopsa100
