Sporting challenges in 2021
The pandemic lockdowns, for many, meant a ritual daily walk, pounding the streets of our neighbourhoods for fresh air and daily exercise.
Some people, such as the amazing individuals who took on the Manchester Virtual Walk, incorporated charity fundraising into their efforts, spurred on by Captain Sir Tom and so many other inspirational stories we’ve seen on our screens over the last year.
Others took up running or cycling, and as Chief Executive of St Ann’s Hospice, I’ve been so grateful to see so many people choosing to join Team St Ann’s and take on a sporting challenge to raise money for our patients.
Some have joined organised runs – such as signing up for our Great Manchester Run team this year – with others organising their own sporting challenges, such as an amazing group of local men Neil Bradbury, Keith Seaton, Sean Martin and Eddie Kohler who cycled 958 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats in nine days.
There’s a real synergy between these fundraising challenges which see people setting incredible personal targets to raise money, and the individual goals we support our patients to achieve too.
A huge part of what we do at St Ann’s is helping to empower and support patients to accomplish their wishes. We know everyone’s aims are different and our teams listen and work with them to try and achieve those goals, whatever they might be, and whatever stage of their illness they might be at.
For some, it’s aiming to get home again in time for a special occasion, for others it’s being able to walk to the local shop. For some patients they might wish to be up out of bed and changed from pyjamas into clothes for when their family visits, while for others, it may be to try a new food or drink from our hospice kitchen.
We can only carry on caring thanks to the support of people from our local community, so please do get in touch if you’d be interested in taking on a sporting challenge such as the Great Manchester Run – or one of your own – to help raise money for our patients.
We’d really appreciate it…and our patients would too.
To find out more about free sporting event places, or other ways to join Team St Ann’s, email events@sah.org.uk, call 0161 498 3631 or click the link below.