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/

	What an achievement. Not only have you raised the profile of Guide Dogs worldwide, you've done it for the disabled by courage and determination. Donation by David Impey 21/04/08	£25.00
	Congratulations and well done Donation by Sandwell Council - Highways and Environment Div 21/04/08	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	Fantastic! Pride of the Midlands, both of you! I don't know you personally, but wish i did, congratulations true inspiration. Donation by stacey caygill 21/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Congratulations ! Inspired by your achievement and running with you in Dubai a donation from course participants of commercial academy. Donation by Edwin 20/04/08	£165.00
	Donated by family and friends to support you and the Army boys who ran with you in the Falklands, Donation by Debbie 20/04/08	£70.00
	A tremendous achievement. Donation by Marlene & John 20/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Dave & Mac - A truly inspirational Black Country pair Donation by Ken 20/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	tremendous effort! Donation by r q 20/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Congratulations to both of you. What an achievement! You & the Baggies are "Top of the League" Boing Boing!! Donation by Barry & Chris Slack 20/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Absolutely incredible Donation by Pete Braznell 20/04/08	£7.00 + £1.97 Gift Aid
	A remarkable achievement Donation by Dot WEBB 20/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Fantastic effort, boing, boing! Donation by Ron & Liz 19/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done to both of you ! Donation by Fred and Cath 19/04/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	incredible achievement to you both! Donation by anonymous 19/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Anyone can rattle a tin, what you two did takes bottle, a lot of it. You deserve all the accolades that come your way. Pride of the Black Country !! Donation by Sue & Clive Fellows 18/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	What a feat, both of you are an inspiration. You have lifted the spirits of people in the Black Country Donation by gjbandjub 18/04/08	£15.00 + £4.23 Gift Aid
	Congratulations to u both in your challege u are 2 in a million should be more around like u two thoroughly enjoyed tv programme last night Donation by Pauline and Will Williams 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	wow fellas what a insperation !!!!!!!!!! Donation by simon & rachel 18/04/08	£15.00 + £4.23 Gift Aid
	An incredible achievement - well done Dave & Mac. Donation by Lara & Alex Strickland 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Two 'Bostin' Black Country blokes - Well done ! ! Donation by Anne & Dave 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Absolutely amazing just bumped into Dave in West Brom what a star well done Dave & Mac Donation by Sharon and Julie 18/04/08	£15.00 + £4.23 Gift Aid
	Dave and Mac - congratulations! from Peter, Hazel & Janet Hill Donation by Hazel Summers 18/04/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	Well done Donation by Hannahb 18/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Dave & Mac, Congratulations to you both on your wonderful achievement Donation by Jo 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Dave and Mac - you are remarkable people and congratulations on this amazing achievement. You have inspired many with this huge effort. Donation by Fiona 18/04/08	£75.00
	I watched, I cried, I determined to be a better person - your team shows the way! Can't use my charitycard here so giving £100 via cafonline.org Donation by Helen 18/04/08	£2.00 + £0.56 Gift Aid
	Well done to both of you Donation by Phil and Chris 18/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Congratulations. A wonderful achievement. Donation by Anonymous 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	well done!! Donation by jules 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Fantastic achievement. Well done both! Donation by Pam and Barry 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

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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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