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/

	Nice work, amazing achievement. Donation by top cat 17/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Wow this is such a fantastic achievement - congratulations! Donation by Emma 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Congratulations on a great achievement Donation by Sue Bayliss 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done !! Donation by Paul&Lynda Cooer 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	You ran your 7th marathon in 7 days on 7 continents faster than my 1 marathon in 1 day! I am in awe Donation by Alex Mankowitz 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Congratulations to both of you - a real inspiration Donation by Rebecca C 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	It is people like you who put the Great into Great Britain Donation by Doll Doll 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Congratulations to both of you. A real inspiration to everybody. Well done! Donation by Phil & Gina Barrett 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Fantastic achievement! Well Done Lads!!! Donation by Pattie & Peter Witts 17/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	well done Dave, saw you on TV London marathon and admired your pluck Donation by martyn MH 17/04/08	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	Well done to both of you - fantastic achievement Donation by Julia 17/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave and Malcolm what you've done is incredible. Wrong team (up the Villa) but top blokes! Donation by Nicola Partridge 16/04/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	A very well done, an amazing achievement! Donation by Ben Polwin 16/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Well Done to both of you, Proud to be a Baggie Donation by Steve Bell 16/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	I had the honor of running with you in Sydney. Your skills, attitude & courage are the best. J Heary Donation by Integrity Claim Consulting, LLC 16/04/08	£200.00
	Dave and Mac - sound as a pound. Donation by Ian 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Fantastic! Congratulations, and we hope you reach your target. Best wishes. Donation by Kate & Paul, Switzerland/The Black Country! 16/04/08	£30.00
	Absolutely brilliant well done to you and your guide Mac Boing Boing come on you heroes. Donation by John Goodwin & Betty 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	CONGRATULATIONS. You are an inspiration to us all. Donation by The Tucker family 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well Done Dave & Mac. Fantastic achievement Donation by Lynette & Tony 16/04/08	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	A fantastic achievement, I don't know how you did it. Donation by Anne Marklew 16/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Fantastic achievement. Boing ! Boing ! Donation by David Lissimore 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Fantastic, Dave and Mac. It was a pleasure to share the adventure with you. Donation by Eck 16/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Well done to the whole team. What's next?! Donation by Simon Harland 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	An unbelievable achievement for you both Donation by Shirley 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	An outstanding achievement well done to both of you from Mick at Halesowen Donation by Mick Kenna 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Congratulations on your unbelievable achievement Donation by Irene Kelly 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done Donation by Cas 16/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	As an opician in the local area & also a keen runner I find your story both amazing & inspiring. A fantastic achievement. Well done. Donation by Mick Murray 16/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	fantastic, inspiring story & a great cause Donation by Michelle 16/04/08	£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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