26.2 Miles for Joseph’s new wheels

Fundraising campaign by Naomi Givens
  • £4,316.00
    raised of £3,000.00 goal goal
143% Funded
120 Donors
Raised offline: £40.00
Total: £4,356.00

The campaign owner has stopped the page from accepting further donations. Please contact them if you'd still like to donate

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I am going to do something I said that I would NEVER EVER do. I'm going to run a marathon, yes a MARATHON!. So why the change of mind? It's simple, someone I know needs to raise a huge amount of money so I decided to do something big to try and help.

Nicola Whitworth was a housemate of mine at University and we've kept in touch ever since. Nicola's son Joseph has SMA Type 2 - I've copied Nicola's own words (below) from her fundraising page as she can explain the reasons for this campaign better than I can. Nicola, James, their family and friends have worked very hard to keep Joseph's life as normal as possible and in recent years they have raised thousands of pounds to buy him an adapted bike so he can join the family on cycle rides, eye gaze technology for games and school work and a portable hoist so that they can go away on holiday. However, he is now in need of a new wheelchair before he starts secondary school in September 2018 and it will cost a whopping £15,000. If I could manage to raise £2000 towards the overall target you would make me a very happy and unbelievably grateful woman.

I can currently run about 10K fairly comfortably but I've never pushed myself to run any further. I plan to run the Manchester marathon on April 8th 2018 and have also signed up for the Windsor Half Marathon on 24th September as a half way goal to aim for. I'll post updates on my progress here (for anyone that is interested).

Text from Nicola's Fundraising Page

Joseph is 9 years old and has SMA Type 2 (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). SMA is a life limiting condition which results in generalised progressive muscle weakness. He has never been able to crawl or walk, and over the years we have seen him lose strength in his arms, hands, neck and swallowing. He has a gastrostomy to help ensure he receives the calories and nutrition to keep him well. He also uses non-invasive ventilation at night to help with his breathing and to steer off potentially life threatening chest infections.

Despite all of this, Joseph is a beautiful, bright and cheerful little boy who does a terrific job of just getting on with life despite his severe disabilities. He has driven a powered wheelchair since he was 3 and loves participating in wheelchair football (the photo is of him with the trophy for the North West Powerchair Football League which his team recently won). He is also a very keen Manchester United supporter and he was lucky enough to meet the team at a dream day in October 2016.

Joseph's current wheelchair became obsolete a few years ago which makes finding parts for any repair work very, very difficult. We know that Joseph will need a new wheelchair to replace the Balder before parts are completely unavailable.

Joseph is due to start high school in September 2018. Discussions with his physiotherapist and the high school have suggested that the best way forward is a sit to stand chair. The school is not very accessible and feel it would be difficult to accommodate both his chair and stander, which he has to use on a daily basis for physiotherapy. A sit to stand chair is not available on the NHS and will be at least £15,000.

This is a huge amount of money to try and raise and so we are starting the fundraising now so that hopefully he will have his new wheelchair in time for starting high school in September 2018.

Many thanks for reading and thanks to everyone for their ongoing support. Hopefully we will get there!

Organizer

  • Naomi Givens
  •  
  • Campaign Owner

Donors

  • Marianne Scholes
  • Donated on May 01, 2018
  • Well done completing the marathon. Truly inspiring from you both! We are in awe of you, you’re both amazing!!

£100.00
  • Tonia Pinkerton
  • Donated on Apr 30, 2018
  • Congratulations! Should have donated earlier but better late than never!

£50.00
  • Rebecca Kitching
  • Donated on Apr 21, 2018
  • Hope it goes well! Xx

£20.00
Apr 09

We did it - THANK YOU!!!

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 06:44 am

After months of training, Joseph’s Mum Nicki and I COMPLETED the Manchester Marathon yesterday. It was just as tough as we expected particularly for me after about mile 18 by I was determined not to walk and Nicki was a huge help in keeping me going. A huge thanks to. . . . .

See update
0
Mar 08

One month to go and I'm feeling nervous.

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 09:10 pm

I've been training for this for 9 months now and if I'm honest I thought I'd feel more ready than I do! I've kept up with my training plan with my longest run to date being18.5 miles but I'm not finding the really long runs very easy. Another 8 miles. . . . .

See update
0
Oct 08

Six months to Go!!!!

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 05:01 pm

Six months today exactly I'll be running a marathon and it feels like I have a long way to go! However, I can now run 10 miles relatively comfortably so I've come a long way from where I was a few months ago. It's getting serious now with me doing. . . . .

See update
0
Sep 12

The first Challenge approaches....

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 08:41 pm

It's less than two weeks until I take part in the Windsor Half Marathon as part of my build up to the full marathon next year. Am I ready? If I'm honest, I'm not sure. I'm trying hard (see the photo of me below after running 6 miles in the. . . . .

See update
0
Aug 18

Channelling Mo Farah

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 09:59 pm

Over £800 already - that is amazing, thank you, thank you, thank you!My long run this week was 12.5km which is still a long way off the 42km I'll need to run in April but it's getting closer to the 21km I'll be running on the 24th September - although. . . . .

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0
Jul 27

Getting back out there

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 09:44 am

Following my Sports Day injury, I had to take a few weeks off and have been VERY slowly getting my thigh used to running again. I started with just 5 minutes and have been building up 5 minutes extra each time. Today I ran for 30 minutes with this beautiful

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0
Jun 26

A slight setback but there's no turning back now...

Update posted by Naomi Givens at 08:13 pm

Last week was sports day at my kids' school and I joined in the fun by taking part in the parents race. On the plus side, I won the race but unfortunately I badly strained my quad muscle in the process and proceeded to hobble off in agony. I've rested. . . . .

See update
0

Donors & Comments

120 donors
  • Marianne Scholes
  • Donated on May 01, 2018
  • Well done completing the marathon. Truly inspiring from you both! We are in awe of you, you’re both amazing!!

£100.00
  • Tonia Pinkerton
  • Donated on Apr 30, 2018
  • Congratulations! Should have donated earlier but better late than never!

£50.00
  • Rebecca Kitching
  • Donated on Apr 21, 2018
  • Hope it goes well! Xx

£20.00
  • Julie Anderson
  • Donated on Apr 20, 2018
  • Good on you Naomi!

£20.00
  • Jörg Sievers
  • Donated on Apr 12, 2018
Amount Hidden
  • Jane Eccles
  • Donated on Apr 09, 2018
  • Ladies I am so impressed and so lovely that you are doing this together. Hope you were able to enjoy a few celebratory drinks Newcastle style afterwards, lots of love, jane xxx

£100.00
  • liz addison
  • Donated on Apr 09, 2018
  • Well done you!! liz & co. xx

£10.00
  • Lynette Bowden
  • Donated on Apr 08, 2018
  • Good luck to both of you - know you’ll smash it! Love from the Bowdens xxx

£50.00
  • Sandra Donnelly
  • Donated on Apr 08, 2018
£10.00
  • Colin Atkinson
  • Donated on Apr 08, 2018
  • Run Nicky Run Good luck from Colin, Michelle and the girls xx

£50.00
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Followers

20 followers
Julie Davison
Mollie Weston
Iiz addison
Elvira Sklaveniti
Judy Hopking
Julia Harris
Charlotte Maclean-Bristol
Lex van den Bos
Lex van den Bos
Fiona Brock
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£4,316.00
raised of £3,000.00 goal
143% Funded
120 Donors
Raised offline: £40.00
Total: £4,356.00

No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities

Help this ongoing fundraising campaign by making a donation and spreading the word.

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