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Rev Michael Elfred gets on his bike for MHA
From London to Paris and Thailand, supporters are running, cycling and trekking to raise money for MHA.
Marianne Lee is running three marathons in three weeks in London, Northampton and Surrey to raise money for the amenities at Newport Pagnell, where her father lives.
“Dad had a stroke and has lost a lot of functionality,” Marianne said. “This will be a three-week challenge for me, but someone in Dad’s position faces a harder challenge all the time. It’s nice to be able to help residents enjoy themselves and make the best of every day.”
Rev Michael Elfred of the Church of the Good Shepherd recently raised over £7,000 for MHA and two other charities by cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats in memory of his father Jack, who lived at Ryelands in Wallington. Now he’s cycled from London to Paris and raised a further £1,450.
He says,“There’s no such thing as too much money for such a good cause. I’m very grateful for the care my father received at MHA.”
Kate Thelwell supported Elmside in Hitchin, home of her grandfather Daniel Kirkham, with her first marathon, in London. “I want to make a difference for the residents,” she said. “The staff in places like Elmside are the people who put the world back where it should be and I wanted to do my bit.”
And Paul Kaye is running no fewer than six marathons this year for MHA’s Live at Home project in Pudsey (his company, Pudsey Legal, ‘adopted’ the scheme in 2012, and has raised over £1,500 to date). “I’m very glad to be supporting a small, local organisation,” he said. “They do such important work and people don’t always think of them as much as they do the larger organisations.”
Meanwhile Karen Storey, Volunteer Co-ordinator at Aigburth in Leicester, trekked in Thailand for 11 days with her daughter Sophie, helping to fund the home’s new café.
“There is only one dementia café this side of Leicester and it’s inundated,” Karen said, “We need more facilities like this.”
If you are inspired by our runners and would like to support MHA, we have five places for this year’s Great North Run (Sun 7 September) in Newcastle. We will provide running shirts and sponsorship forms. If you, a relative or friend would like to book your place please contact Bobby Youngwood on 01332 221946 or email: bobby.youngwood@mha.org.uk