 Yvette Dean tells us about her experience of adapting her London Marathon fundraiser following the Coronavirus social distancing rules.
“I was given my Running clubs place for the London Marathon, which should be taking place this weekend, April 26th. I chose to raise funds for Notts Hospice as they were extremely supportive when my father-in-law, Mick, attended their day centre shortly before his death in Feb 2019. They continued to provide support to my mother-in-law, Glynis, and the rest of the family even after he had passed away. I set up a fun run/walk event for 29th March, to generate some monies for the charity and invited lots of people. I obtained permission from the council to use a local park and I even promised cakes & medals for all participants. Then came the lockdown and the government restricted our movements and encouraged social distancing. What to do? I’d made a commitment to the charity and I knew that, even more so during the lockdown, they would continue to need some support. I’d already got the medals, which are lovely, very similar colours to the Hospice logo and inscribed with Hospice Hero VLM 2020. I was encouraged by a fellow runner to go ‘virtual’ with my event. The government had encouraged us to all socially distance but we could still get out and walk/jog and run, whether it was with the kids or to walk the dog, and I knew people would all soon need a good excuse to get out. So the virtual ‘call’ went out: I have the medals! I have the support! We just can’t do it together anymore! But we can still become Hospice Heroes. So the event was changed to virtual and people encouraged to run/walk whenever & wherever they could for this event. Post a picture of themselves during their run/walk to the event page. Make a donation to my charity fundraising page and in return one of the beautiful medals & a thank you note would be winging its way to the person as soon as possible. I couldn’t provide the cakes but that can be left until lockdown is over and we can all celebrate together. I’ve now raised, with the help of so many hospice heroes, £746.20 plus gift aid. I know it doesn’t seem much but I never expected this amount during the crisis we all find ourselves in. I’m overwhelmed and so very grateful for all of the support, thank you to everyone who stepped up in these difficult times and made this happen. I’m still aiming to run the rescheduled Marathon in October and hopefully I can generate some more donations between now and then. Many of supporters sent me their picture, with their medal, once they had received it.”
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 A big thank you to everyone who turned out to celebrate our 6th Birthday with us this morning, it was lovely to see so many of you! Forty-eight runners participated with 8 first-timers and 13 PBs achieved, it's great to see all the hard work you're putting in is paying dividends. As always a big thank you to our volunteers Nick and Annabelle, Dom, Rachelle, Kirstie and Emma we couldn't do it without you guys! I also want to take a minute to thank Paul Thompson and Sue McLoughlin with whom this all started 6 years ago without you, we wouldn't be here now, thank you! Claire M  Sunday 19th of January saw the KADS at the BDL Cross Country race at Bramcote Park.
I would like to thank the 26 runners who took part. Well done to Ryan on his debut for the club, and also a special mention for Alan, Glen, Rob G, Dan G, Dave S and Ash who joined us having been injured over the last year. All KADS put in a brilliant performance with Bruce Raeside being our first finisher in a fantastic second place. The scores on the doors - Men = 552, 10th place and the Ladies = 576, 6th place. Combined KADS = 1128, 8th place. I'd like to thank Steve Robinson-Day and Glen Weston for sorting transport and Nick and Helen for bringing the tent and sorting the race admin. Also a big thank you to the support from friends and family on the sidelines. When a voice shouts 'Come on KADS', it kept me going. On Sunday 16th February we tackle 5th and final BDL race in the cross country season. So far we have had 16 ladies and 26 men take part in the series. Thanks to everybody for running, there have been some brilliant performances. Let's get as many KADS as we can out for the final race. One very happy Skip. Thank you all. Micky |
