Crawley Takes Up Sport

[caption id="attachment_2934" align="alignleft" width="225"] Donna proudly displays her medal[/caption]

Crawley House have tales of past sporting prowess with more still to come...

As mentioned previously in Dispatches, Donna Brown took part in the Swimathon at her local pool at the end of April. This is an annual event held nationwide which aims to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Donna elected to swim 2.5 kilometres, i.e. 100 lengths of the pool. This is the equivalent of running 12.5 kilometres, so her achievement is impressive :)

Staying on the running front we have late news just in that Customer Service Assistant Sajida Sidat's daughter ran 4 miles for Sport Relief for Schools at the end of March. Crawley House donated £50 towards her sponsorship total.

Last but not least, Mark Simmons and Mike Moore report on an intriguing joint sporting challenge still to come:

On Friday 22^nd June Crawley and Croydon are taking up the challenge of the Longest Day of Golf at Chichester golf club. The Victims (sorry I mean Golfers) will endure 72 holes over 300 shots and will cover 20 miles with 53% of the holes played having the additional challenge of water on them.

Think we’re going to need a bigger boat and a lot more golf balls.

The money raised will be divided between Newstraid and Help for Heroes.

Mark and Mike: it sounds like you'll be well on your way to completing a 2012 Challenge in one go with that little lot!

More Miles for Sport Relief

[caption id="attachment_2406" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Gemma with her son Reece[/caption]

One of the great stories to have come out of the Group's participation in this year's Sport Relief Mile is the family occasion it's been in the name of a good cause. After Dave Moore last week, we have news of BLS' Gemma McGowan, who walked her mile at Nostell Priory near Wakefield, whilst her son Reece (aged 9) ran the best part of three miles. They raised a total of £66.

[caption id="attachment_2420" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Kate Gill with daughter Carrie and son Henry - "The family are getting involved too"[/caption]

Meanwhile in Newcastle, it was Kate Gill's children who kick-started their participation in this year's Community Week. They were keen to do something for children less fortunate than themselves and roped mum in for the Sport Relief mile as well! Their run at Chester-le-Street in County Durham raised £67.07.

Going the Extra Mile for Sport Relief

[caption id="attachment_2372" align="alignleft" width="640"] All ready for the off! (from left) Rebecca and Smokey, Nic with Sacha & Trixie, then Rachel and Stanley[/caption]

Members of the Community Week Committee from Finance and Comms  at Wakefield House continued their fundraising efforts with the Sport Relief mile last Sunday. However, their 'run' was with a twist as they decided it would fun to involve their pooches!

[caption id="attachment_2373" align="alignright" width="225"] Stanley cools down - awww how cute![/caption]

Rachel Cook takes up the story:

A beautiful sunny Sunday was the perfect setting for our Sport Relief Mile. Hundreds of people turned out to local beauty-spot Coate Water to take part in either a 1 or 3 mile walk/run in aid of Sport Relief. We and the dogs really enjoyed the day and were amazed that we far exceeded our £50 fundraising target. Sacha, Trixie and Smokey completed the mile with bags of energy remaining, whilst poor puggy Stanley had to take a breather and cool down with an ice-lolly!

We were amazed by people's generosity, and were thrilled to have raised £200! I’m not sure how much of the support was for us, and how much was for the dogs though!

[caption id="attachment_2385" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dave Moore and stepson look pleased at the end of their Sport Relief run[/caption]

Staying with Wakefield House, Dave Moore of Central Ops went an extra two miles for his Sport Relief action held at Staffordshire University. He says:

In total myself and my stepson raised £402.30 for Sports Relief. Although being the hottest day of the year it was a good run.

This means Dave smashed his fundraising target of £300, so as he says on his fundraising page, you can give yourselves a pat on the back!

Sport Relief Takes Off This Week

Following our report on John Bishop's Week of Hell, it's good to see a number of  participants from Smiths News will be involved in various Sport Relief activities this coming weekend.

Dave Moore of Central Ops at Wakefield House will be running 5km (just over 3 miles in old money) at the event held at Staffordshire University on Sunday. He has a sponsorship page set up for those of you unable to support him on the day.

Dave says on his page:

I'm doing the Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile and taking on 3 miles at The Staffordshire Uni Mile to help people living unimaginably tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

Which is where you come in... I really need your help to smash my fundraising target! And since you're already here, looking so kind and generous, I'm very much hoping you'll sponsor me now.

Thank you for all your support - and feel free to give yourself a big pat on the back!

Meanwhile in Swindon on the same day, Nicola Hewlett, Rebecca Hedges and Rachel Cook will be running the Sport Relief Mile with their dogs! Others from Wakefield House will be joining them, so we're expecting to have the full who's who very soon :)

Do let us know ASAP if you're planning to take part in Sport Relief this weekend (use the Publicity Form) and we'll aim to publicise your activities/sponsorship pages in another participant feature!

We'll have a news round-up of how everyone got on, pictures and a running total (groan!) of the amount raised later on in Dispatches.

From S to N Meets Bishop's 'Week of Hell'

[caption id="attachment_2133" align="alignleft" width="300"] Gordon Scott and Andy Cook relax after John Bishop arrives in Calais[/caption]

If you're following this year's Sport Relief, you've probably come across John Bishop's 'Week of Hell' already. Yesterday the comedian set off in his quest to cycle, row and run from Paris to London in just 5 days.

There's also an exciting Smiths News connection with John's quest. Andy Cook and Gordon Scott of last year's From A to B fame were closely involved in the organisation of John's 185 mile cycle ride from Paris to Calais yesterday.

In the photo they look happy (and probably relieved) John achieved yesterday's target. What it doesn't tell you is he finished his ride at 3 in the morning!

We're pleased Andy and Gordon's expertise will be available on this year's From S to N bike ride and would like to reassure this year's applicants that 3am finishes shouldn't be a feature of their experience ;)

We'll be featuring Andy and Gordon again in a future post on Dispatches. And don't forget, if Sport Relief features as part your fundraising, we'd love to hear about it too!