Well, summer is finally here, although you wouldn’t know it from the gorgeous Rossendale rain!
But here at SI Rossendale, we’re not letting the miserable summer weather get us down. And we’re not letting the Coronavirus lockdown stop us either!
Hot on the heels of our most recent fundraising experience, our new President, Alison Driver, has come up with a new challenge to get us moving and help raise some vital funds too. Marathons!
Yes, you heard me. Marathons. We’re fundraising with the Marathon Challenge!
Whatever next?! Read on to find out more.
How Are SI Rossendale Running Marathons During Lockdown?
Don’t panic! We’re not actually going to be running anything.
Have you met us?! Most of us can’t even run for a bus, let alone run a marathon!
No, instead we’re going to take our marathons at a slightly more leisurely pace. Well, most of us are, at least.
This is the plan. Throughout the entire month of July 2020, the SI Rossendale gang (and some members of our family members too) are going to see how many steps we can do each day, convert that into distance (miles), then compile the results. Then we’ll see how many miles we’ve done between us all during the course of the month and convert that into marathons. Easy!
The beauty of this approach is that everyone is able to join in if they wish.
Some of our members are elderly, or are still confined to the home thanks to the Covid 19 lockdown (or both), so their step count per day is not likely to be high. But that’s OK because every single step still counts towards the overall total.
Some of our members are back at work, or are able to get out more during the day, so their daily step count is likely to be a bit higher. And that’s OK too; it’s not a competition between us, just a joint effort.
Some of our members are even feeling a little bit more adventurous and, instead of counting their distance in steps, have vowed to rack up their miles on the exercise bike. Well, it’s a good excuse to move more and maybe even lose some of those lockdown pounds.
Come on, don’t pretend you haven’t put on some lockdown weight too!
And of course, as I’ve already mentioned, some of our members are even roping in friends and family to help clock up those additional miles too. I’ve co-opted my 8 year old niece and 10 year old son to take part in the Marathon Challenge, and they’re both really excited to be contributing to it.
We’re all keeping records of how many miles or steps we’ve done each day using our wearable step trackers or step counter apps or our phones so that, at the end of the month, we can tot up how many miles we’ve done as a club. Exciting!
Why Are SI Rossendale Supporting Rossendale Hospice?
Rossendale Hospice is a charity that is close to our heart.
In fact, it was members of SI Rossendale that worked tirelessly to help get the hospice off the ground in the first place. And we have supported it ever since.
In fact, last year, we were awarded a Platinum Leaf on their donation tree, in recognition of our continued financial support over the past 30 years.
Unfortunately, last year we also lost two valued and long-standing members thanks to illness, and Rossendale Hospice were there until the end.
Both Maureen Griffin and Eileen Cudworth died in 2019 after a period of illness. Both ladies had been highly valued members of SI Rossendale for decades and the club was deeply saddened by the loss of their friendship and support.
In both cases, Rossendale Hospice looked after our friends exceptionally well, providing care to them and assistance to their close friends and family. Rossendale Hospice ensured our friends had a dignified and peaceful death and, for that, SI Rossendale is eternally grateful.
Hence, in the names of our late friends, Maureen and Eileen, all funds raised by our Marathon Challenge will be donated to the hospice, so that it can continue its amazing work and help many others in the same way. In these troubling times, the work of the hospice is needed more than ever.
How Many Marathons Can SI Rossendale Complete?
With this as our motivation, we’re all determined to clock up as many miles as we possibly can between us this July and thus raise as much money for Rossendale Hospice as we are able.
A marathon is 26 miles. We’re going to aim to achieve 10 marathons between us, which would mean we’ll need to rack up a whopping 260 miles as a collective.
Do you think we can manage that? I really hope we can.
How Can You Support SI Rossendale’s Marathon Challenge?
In order to help us raise as much money as we possibly can for Rossendale Hospice, we’re going to need a lot of support from you!
You can help us support the amazing work of Rossendale Hospice in one of two ways;
- You can make a one-off donation in the name of SI Rossendale or
- You can sponsor us per mile achieved or
Obviously both ways of raising money are fantastic and we genuinely don’t mind which you chose. However, naturally, if you do choose to sponsor us per mile, then the more we do, the more money we raise.
Now, if that doesn’t motivate us, nothing will!
There are several ways in which you can make your donation or pledge your support;
- In Person – you can hand your donation in cash or cheque to a Soroptimist. If you wish to sponsor someone individually (as opposed to the club as a whole) then this might be your preferred option. Our members will then ensure the money is banked and donated to the Hospice.
- By Post – you can make your donation by cheque and send it in the post. Simply make your cheque payable to Soroptimist International Of Rossendale and send it to SI Rossendale, 2 Ivy Close, Waterfoot, Rossendale, BB4 7BN. Please ensure your cheque is clearly marked ‘Marathon Challenge’ on the reverse, so that our treasurer is able to identify where the money should go.
- By Online Payment – you can pay your donation straight to Rossendale Hospice using PayPal, via their Facebook page. This is by far the easiest way of making your donation. However, if you choose to make your donation in this way, please ensure you specify ‘SI Rossendale’ as the payee reference and let us know about your donation. This will enable us to announce a fundraising total at the end of the challenge.
Contact SI Rossendale
If you are unsure about how best to make your donation or would like to donate your funds in a different way, please do get in touch with us, or email Alison Driver (alison.driver@metishr.co.uk) or myself, Rachel Weinhold (rachelweinhold@msn.com), and we will help you.
We will also be posting regularly via our Facebook page over the coming weeks, and these posts will have a Donate button attached to enable easy donations. Please make sure you follow our page to make sure you see our posts.
And, of course, if you are not in a position to support the Marathon Challenge financially then don’t worry! Simply make sure you tell everyone about what we’re doing, share this blog post and share our social media posts. The more people who know about us, the better, so your help in telling the world is invaluable.
In the meantime, wish us luck! We’ll keep you updated about our progress via social media, so please continue to support us in any way you can and help us to spread our message far and wide. We’ll put the miles in, but we can’t raise a fortune for Rossendale Hospice without your help.