School community helps to smash the John O’Groats to Land’s End challenge
On Saturday, 376 people took part in Weston’s Wheels John O’Groats to Land’s End to John O’Groats virtual family event to raise £10,000 to buy an all-terrain, electric wheelchair for Marcus Weston, in Year 10.
Organisers hoped to encourage people to collectively run, walk or cycle 874 miles throughout the day, logging their miles on Facebook. However, they were stunned when the total mileage far exceeded expectations with participants covering more than three times the target, a total of 2672 miles across sixteen UK counties and five countries, including Canada and Oman!
The virtual event was a real coming together of the community with many staff and students from Richmond School and Sixth Form College joining in: Miss Abbey and Ms Dunwoodie cycled 50 miles; The Sandell family cycled 34 miles; the Lundberg family walked 56 miles; the Roberts-Ball family walked 23 miles; the Kind family cycled 78.52 miles; the Rye family walked 31.5 miles; the Rogerson family walked 30 miles, and Mr Buckley went for an 18 mile hike with many more members of the school community taking part with their friends and families.
The day began for Marcus with a visit from Richmond Firefighters who managed to clock up an impressive 65 miles by running alongside the fire engine, while the team toured the streets of Richmond with a collection bucket to spread the word.
Weston’s Wheels was set up earlier this year to raise funds to buy an all-terrain, electric wheelchair for 15-year-old Marcus who has Cardio-Facio-Cutaneous Syndrome and Autism.
While Marcus has worked hard over the years to achieve some mobility, longer walks in our beautiful Yorkshire countryside are impossible so his parents began to research all-terrain wheelchairs which would allow Marcus and his family to explore further afield, as well as enjoy walks to local beauty spots without having to take the car. This weekend, the target has almost been reached so the family will be able to place their order for the Trekinetic GTE powered wheelchair.
The Weston family would like to say huge a thank you to every single person who helped spread the word, took part and donated. Sarah Atkinson, organiser of the Land’s End to John O’Groats challenge and close friend of the family, said, ‘With all the depressing things going on in the world at the moment, isn’t it lovely to see the power of kindness and community.’
Weston’s Wheels Just Giving Page