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/

	Donation by Anonymous 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	You are an inspiration! Congratulations on your amazing achievement . Donation by Lindsay Trayler 18/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Very well done. What a magnificent achievement. You are a true hero. With very best wishes for the future. Boing Boing Baggies! Donation by Sally Price 18/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Congratulations, what an achievement Donation by Jeff and Judy 18/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Dave you brougut tears to my eyes,sorry this is all I can affford at the moment, hope to see you on the pitch at the saints game. Donation by gloster baggie 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done both what a superb achievement from a very proud from a fellow baggie boing boing Donation by Grebo 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Donation by anonymous 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Absolutely brilliant, well done to you and mac.lets hope the baggies get promotion as a reward for you. Donation by keith price 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Congratulations, You're both super heroes. Donation by Ann 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave, BOING BOING Donation by Ian 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Fantastic! Well done. Donation by Maureen and Family 17/04/08	£40.00 + £11.28 Gift Aid
	A hero. An inspiration to us all. Well done. Donation by S & B 17/04/08	£100.00
	congratulations both of you, you made us all proud Donation by Lucy 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Very well done to you both Donation by Chris Ryde 17/04/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	Brilliant achievement ! Let's hope for a Blind Dave and Albion promotion double ! BOING BOING!!! Donation by Steve & Lisa Walton 17/04/08	£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid
	they only make people like you n mack,in west brom..well done our kid,god bless you both! Donation by jeffslad 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Very well done indeed. Congratulations and very best wishes Donation by Martin Sargent 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Amazing achievement and a great inspiration Donation by Teresa Stanley 17/04/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	Donation in memory of my mom who also in her latter years lost her sight and was devastated Donation by Linda Styles 17/04/08	£50.00
	Inspired by Blind Dave's acheivement what a wonderful human being Donation by Bob McDonald 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave and team.....really impressed by your efforts and dedication. Keep on running. Donation by binko 17/04/08	£70.00 + £19.74 Gift Aid
	Absolutely brilliant result Dave, well done. Just seen you on TV, your an inspiration! Donation by Jason 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	well done wish it could be more Donation by Katan 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	What an inspiration to us all!! Well Done. Donation by Caroline Oliver 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Congratulations you are a star! Donation by Marie Myers 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	What a fantastic achievement! Words cannot describe how inspirational you are to others. many congratuations to you both Donation by Jo 17/04/08	£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid
	Just watched you on the tv and also work in West Brom, I ran just the one marathon in 2005 and cannot imagine how you did it!! You are 1 in a million Donation by Ruth Hammond 17/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	You are amazing!!! Well done Donation by Claire 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done dave. I ran my first marathon on Sunday as you were finishing your seventh! You've inspire Donation by Robin Shek 17/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Fantastic achievement, congratulations to Dave and Mac Donation by Wayne 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 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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