Julia Killen

50th Parkrun in memory of my dad

Fundraising for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke
£2,785
raised of £2,500 target
In memory of Neal Killen
We Fight chest, heart & stroke illnesses to Improve the lives of people across NI

Story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

3 years ago my dad died while
running his 74th parkrun. You would think this would put me off parkrun but actually not, and in 3 weeks I’ll (hopefully) be completing my 50th.

Parkrun seems a fitting way to raise money in memory of my dad as he loved it, and it was an important part of his life, but also I can see how it helps others. The benefits of exercise for health, and heart health in particular, are undisputed, with new research published this month showing that running can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51006325). Parkrun organise free, weekly 5k runs encouraging all kinds of people at all stages of life and all shapes and sizes to take up running and improve their health. It was actually parkrun that got me into running and led to me running a half-marathon- something I never thought I’d do. Obviously running a milestone brings up so many memories of my dad, so I thought it would be great to harness this into something for good.

In 2017 there were over 42,000 other people under the age of 75 who died from heart and circulatory conditions – they are one of the leading causes of death in the UK. Therefore, I have decided that in honour of my dad I would like to raise money for Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke who not only support people living with chestheart and stroke conditions but do prevention work in schools and through lobbyingresearch and health promotion. By supporting this charity, we can help prevent other families from going through the same loss we went through.

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About the charity

NICHS is leading the fight against chest, heart and stroke illnesses in NI. We provide support for people affected, and work to prevent these illnesses by delivering health checks and health promotion programmes, funding research and campaigning for improved care, treatment and awareness.

Donation summary

Total raised
£2,784.60
+ £405.00 Gift Aid
Online donations
£2,215.00
Offline donations
£569.60

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