Danny and Damo Versus the Volcano

Danny Wigley and Damian Clapham met while on a trip to Rwanda with Compassion UK to see first-hand the amazing work they do one child at a time through sponsorship. During this trip, they both completed a Compassion Challenge to run a marathon in Rwanda. The marathon was organised for Compassion UK by the wonderful people at Impact Marathons and both were inspired by the professionalism and the ethos of the company to leave a significant positive “impact” in the lives of the local people where their marathons take place. The desire to take part in one of their marathons around the world and to help them in the positive “impact” they create in that area was too hard to resist. How can you turn down the chance to run up to the top of a seriously active volcano in Guatemala!!

This Marathon is nicknamed “The Best of Pacaya” after the volcano it ascends and descends and in taking on such a challenge it would be a waste of human endeavour not to raise money for charity in the process. https://www.impactmarathon.com/guatemala

Many will know Damian has taken on lots of UK based challenges in the past and Danny signed up to the Rwanda Marathon having never run properly before, so they have a history of crazy!! However, they get the
impression from Impact Marathons that this Marathon and the week they will spend in creating an “impact” in the lives of the locals from the
the surrounding area will take this to a new level of crazy!!

In choosing the addtional charities to raise money for both wanted to pick Compassion UK as that is the reason they know each other and they have seen the unbelievable impact sponsorship has. They also felt that as both have struggled with mental illness over the years Mind would be a good choice. These reflected them as a team. Having one charity each that was personal to them would help provide for their own identity and focus during the hours of training. Danny has chosen Unique, a small charity supporting, informing and networking with families living with a Rare Chromosome Disorder or an auto dominant single gene disorder due to his niece being supported by them. Damian has chosen The British Heart Foundation, a charity he has raised money for in the past due to his nephew passing at a young age through heart-related illness.

The Impact Marathon takes place in March 2022, so they have a good 18 months to get ready for it and to give the fundraising their best. The aim is to raise £2,000 per charity and to cover half of the costs of carrying out the challenge. This means the initial target is £10,000 therefore as much of a challenge as completing the marathon when they get there!!

Details of the Impact Marathon and the charities involved are listed below, please take time to make yourself aware of each charities work. Danny and Damian are extremely grateful for you taking the time to be involved in helping raise this money and thank you for your support! as a massive added by bonus by using the Impact Marathon Foundation to make donations to these charities on our behalf, they can benefit from the Gift Aid available on donations!


The Marathon: https://www.impactmarathon.com/guatemala-race

Unique: https://www.rarechromo.org

Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/

British Heart Foundation: https://www.bhf.org.uk/

Compassion UK: https://www.compassionuk.org/