Dave Heeley is fundraising for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Seven Magnificent Marathons

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Raising money for

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Charity Registration No. in England and Wales 209617 and Scotland SC038979

The ability to get around is vital in order to live a full life yet thousands of blind and partially-sighted people never leave home alone. We empower visually-impaired people to live their lives how they want to.

We breed and train guide dogs which provide life changing mobility and there are currently 4,500 working guide dog partnerships in the UK. Guide dog owners only have to pay a nominal 50p for their dog to ensure no-one is prevented from having one due to lack of funds but the full lifetime cost of a guide dog from birth to retirement is £49,800. We rely on the support of the public to fund our services.

We also provide other mobility services such as rehabilitation and white cane training as well as campaign passionately to break down barriers – both physical and legal – to enable blind and partially-sighted people to get around on their own.

Page owner

Dave Heeley

Page closes

04/01/2009

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Raised: 34%

Target: £100,000.00
Raised so far: £33,603.02

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My story

Guide Dogs' Seven Magnificent Marathons

I am a guide dog owner, known as ‘Blind Dave’ and after ten years of fundraising for Guide Dogs, yesterday (Sunday 13 April) I completed my greatest challenge yet! I have finished my ‘Seven Magnificent Marathons’ challenge – seven marathons, on seven continents, in seven days. This challenge is an effort to raise awareness of visual impairment around the globe, and to raise funds for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

With my friend and sighted guide Malcolm Carr and our support team we started on 7 April 2008 in Mount Pleasant - Falkland Islands in Antarctica. This was followed by six subsequent gruelling legs in Rio De Janeiro (South America), Los Angeles (North America), Sydney (Australasia), Dubai (Asia), Tunis, Tunisia (Africa) and London (Europe) – arriving in spectacular style for the Flora London Marathon on Sunday 13 April.

Having an army of supporters at the Flora London Marathon made such an enormous difference to my exhausted body and mind, and helped me find that extra bit of strength from within to complete the final leg of the Seven Magnificent Marathons.

I will carry every single person that joined me for the last 26.2 miles of the challenge in my heart, as I succeeded in proving to the world that sight loss is no barrier to independence and human achievement.

Having experienced sight loss since birth, I know how terrifying life can seem. However, I have been fortunate enough to have had my life transformed by Guide Dogs. That is why I was determined to create awareness of visual impairment around the globe in an effort to improve services for blind and partially sighted people, while also raising money for Guide Dogs. By doing this, I am hoping to make a personal difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people worldwide by bringing mobility issues to the forefront of people’s minds, and help fund the training of more guide dogs for blind or partially sighted people in the UK.

If you would like to know more about the event you can visit: www.7mm.org.uk.

Your support and donations for my challenge are very welcomed, Guide Dogs is totally self sufficient in their fundraising as the government or local authorities offer no financial support whatsoever, so any money you donate is gratefully excepted and will be of huge importance to the ongoing work of Guide Dogs.

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Guide Dogs will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 25% in tax will be added to your gift at no extra cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks,
Blind Dave

All donations are processed in GBP's (£) so if you're donating from outside the UK you may want to double check rate of exchange using a currency converter like this one: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

	well done both great effort. Donation by steve and lisa wynn 03/01/09	£40.00 + £11.28 Gift Aid
	Congratulations Dave and Mac, on this fantastic achievement... Donation by Staff at Tipton Sports Academy 08/10/08	£53.00
	You are an inspiration. Well done Dave. Donation by F Patel 26/09/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	Best of luck! Donation by William Satterthwaite 22/09/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Well Done Dave! Donation by John Shakespeare 19/09/08	£40.00 + £11.28 Gift Aid
	awe-inspiring... Donation by Jamie 11/08/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	It is very humbling to see you training - drove past you this evening on your tandem with Mac - Best wishes to you both Donation by E Leith 16/07/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	What a challenge Donation by Jane Martineau 25/06/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	You are an inspiration to us all. Well done for showing such determination. Donation by Maria and Gary Collier 20/06/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done, totally impressive! Donation by Nayna Patel 10/06/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave and Mac you are both an inspiration Donation by Tari 03/06/08	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	Hope to see some dogs being traind near by. Donation by Ray Cannon 03/06/08	£250.00 + £70.51 Gift Aid
	Fantastic achievement! Well done! Donation by anonymous 28/05/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave, a fantastic achievement Donation by Mrs G Rogers 25/05/08	£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid
	With admiration of your achievement. Donation by Marion 24/05/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	With best wishes. Donation by Richard 24/05/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	You are an inspiration, Well done Donation by Rebecca Smith 23/05/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done to you and Malcolm - hope you're having a rest now. Donation by Paulette (Edgbaston Tangent) 22/05/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Thanks for coming in to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Today. "There's only One Blind Dave". Boing boing . Donation by Duncan Jones 19/05/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Donation by Daz 17/05/08	£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid
	An inspiration! Donation by RobC 14/05/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Thank you so much for coming to Naidex. We wish you a wonderful journey of fundraising and happiness, The Mango Girls Donation by Mango Marketing Ltd 13/05/08	£200.00
	brilliant effort Donation by ian 10/05/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	A magnificent achievement. Well done. Donation by Sandwell Inclusion Support 10/05/08	£30.00
	Woof Woof Woof (well done and thank you in Dog language Donation by Sandwell Labour Group 08/05/08	£500.00
	I watched with interest parts of the London Marathon. Your achievement deserves the highest praise and my congratulations. Donation by John A Richards 08/05/08	£50.00
	Donation by Su & Chris 07/05/08	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	brilliant achievement, well done. Donation by sue and family 07/05/08	£10.00
	You and Mac are the other super heroes. Inspiration for the title? Boing boing Donation by John M 06/05/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	what brilliant blokes good luck to you both and good luck baggies Donation by east standers 04/05/08	£20.00

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* Total raised online:	£17,663.17
Offline donations:	£15,939.85
Gift Aid plus supplement:	£4,179.26

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