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,inspirational Donation by ron 15/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	U R Inspirational! Our son’s in OZ he was amazed to see you. U put Guide Dogs & West Brom on everyone’s lips, what an achievement, god bless always. Donation by Yvonne & Bob Edwards 15/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well Done, what an achievement Donation by Chris 15/04/08	£20.00
	What an achievement! Donation by LLOYD 15/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	A fantastic achievement. You're both a true inspiration. Well done. Donation by Neil in Sutton Coldfield 15/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Fabulous example to us all both of you Donation by Bob Pickett 15/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	I was privileged to be able to congratulate you personally on Sunday. Well done. Donation by Stella Mc 15/04/08	£10.00
	An absolutely unbelievable achievement. Donation by tonyfwright@yahoo.com 15/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Saw you at the albion ground and have followed your progress all the way thru the 7 marathons fantastic achievement Donation by baggies fan 15/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave and Malc. A fantastic achievement Donation by Pat and Martin 15/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Fantastic effort. An inspiring story, you should be immensely proud. Donation by henry may 15/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Congratulations, well done both of you Donation by Anonymous 15/04/08	£10.00
	Absolutely fantastic the pair of you. Hope you exceed your target - you deserve to Donation by STEVE GOULD 15/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Congratulations! Donation by Anonymous 15/04/08	£10.00
	Well done! Donation by Anonymous 14/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Well done! Saw it on the news. Donation by Anon 14/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Dave Heeley and Malcolm Carr, The Magnificent Two. Congratulations on your incredible achievement. Donation by Rosine 14/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Well done Dave & Malcolm. This is a fantastic, awe inspiring acheivement, you are the pride of West Brom & the Midlands. Donation by Bob Meek 14/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Absolutely fantastic. Congratulations on a super human effort Donation by Jat & Rav Sekhon 14/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Super achievement - well done both!!! Donation by Ruddick Family, Coventry 14/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Phillip, Nikki The Davids have been spectacular supporting this. Yourself and Malcolm are an ispiration and everything to be proud of Donation by Saras 14/04/08	£15.00 + £4.23 Gift Aid
	An inspirational acheivement-congratulations to you both Donation by Caroline 14/04/08	£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid
	Great cause and well done very touching Donation by Nathan Freeman 14/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Absolutely totally in awe of your achievement..well done and up the Baggies!! Donation by Alex Reaney 14/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Nothing but admiration for Dave & Malcom for what they have achieved over the last 7 days! Well done to you both! Donation by Rose Family 14/04/08	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Very well done, Dave & Malcolm, enjoy a well earned rest. I sincerely hope you reach your target. Donation by Pete Sanders 14/04/08	£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid
	Well done and congratulations to the both of you Donation by Steve Powell 14/04/08	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Fantastic achievement and a fantastic charity to support. Well done. Donation by SheenaP 14/04/08	£10.00
	The best thing to come out of West Bromwich after the bus to Wolverhampton Donation by OLD WOLF 14/04/08	£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
	Well done to the both of you it's a fantastic achievement Donation by Liz 14/04/08	£15.00 + £4.23 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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