CHAMPION St Luke’s Hospice supporter Faye Draper and her family have already raised more than £5,000 for the charity with a host of initiatives.
And now the Sheffield infant school teacher, who lives with her family in Ecclesall, is in training for one of her biggest challenges to date as she joins city gym TRIB3 to compete in the Sheffield Half Marathon and give the fundraising an even greater boost.
“Both my dad John and my mum Susan passed away in the East Lancs Hospice in Blackburn and I found it shocking that these wonderful places received less than half their required funding from the NHS,” Faye explains.
“From running both the Great North Run and Percy Pud Race to hosting a Gin Night, coffee mornings and clothes swaps we have raised over £5,000 for St Luke’s.”
During the first lockdown, the whole family took part in the St Luke’s 2.6 active challenge, with nine year old Daisy completing a 2.6 mile mix of riding her bike and enjoying a run, while Arthur, aged five, decided that he wanted to do his bit by performing 26 star jumps and three year old Stanley made his contribution by promising 26 hugs!
Daisy also later arranged her own yard sale to give the fundraising total a further boost.
“Mum died last August and the fundraising has continued since then with Daisy wearing shorts everyday throughout November and raising an incredible £3,000 for the hospice in Blackburn - meaning we have now raised almost £10,000 for the two hospices,” said Faye.
The fundraising continues as Faye now gets into training as part of the TRIB3 team running on behalf of St Luke’s in the Sheffield Half Marathon on March 27, with the aim of raising a collective total of £10,000.
“I had originally meant to run the half marathon in 2019 and had done quite a lot of fundraising when i had to pull out because of a knee injury,” Faye says.
“After that the pandemic stopped things so I am now really excited to be running with TRIB3.
“I am passionate about hospices and getting people to understand about the great work places like St Luke’s are doing.
“You might think you don’t need a hospice but you never know when you will need them and the fact is that when that happens they will be there for you, even though they get just a fraction of their funding from the NHS.
“I’ll be very proud to be part of the TRIB3 team and be able to say we raised vital funds for a charity very close to my heart.”
Faye has set herself a personal target of £300 and is already reached £240. To boost that total simply visit Faye Draper