Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In order to raise much need funds to complete the refurbishment of our tiny community centre (somehow they elected me chairman!) I took part in the Tewkesbury Half Marathon on Sunday 9th May 2010.

9th May 2010 was a great time to be running a half marathon - just a month and a day after my 65th birthday!

And I did it! I finished 1110 out of 1187 finishers in a time of just over 2hrs and 23mins. That's almost the 11 minute mile pace that I planned - however I ran the first 10 miles at nearly 10 minute mile pace and then crawled the last 3 miles. Luckily, grand-daughter Molly Alys and four of the Rossendale girls - Julie, Julie, Christine and Sue were at the finish with Margaret to shout me home. Apparently there's talk of getting together in New York after my 70th birthday so that I can do a full marathon!!!

Bwlch y Sarnau Community Centre began its life in the 1880's as an isolated village school - situated at over 1200 feet above sea level - serving a scattered rural community. The school was closed in the mid 1990's and became the Community Centre. By 2002 the building was in such a poor state that Powys CC threatened to close the building unless ways could be found to finance the refurbishment of the centre.

Our committee then began raising funds and applying for grant aid to save the building. Since 2002 we have registered as a charity, raised £15,000 of our own funds and successfully applied for over £25,000 in grant aid. The old building has been rewired and completely reroofed, new toilets and kitchen have been constructed in the main building, an internal wall has been removed to maximise space and the old floorboards have been repaired, sanded and sealed.

So, what else is there still to do?

The old kitchen annexe (see photograph) is attached to the main building like a giant carbuncle! Unfortunately, it has been identified as a medium asbestos risk and will need to be demolished by specialist contractors at a cost of £7,500!

I'd really like to raise as much of this as I could, so I came up with the Chairman's Challenge.

Hopefully all the friends that it has been my privilege to know in the last 60 years will sponsor me - every pound that we raise we can double through grant fund applications.

Some are friends from my time at Newton-le-Willows Grammar School (1956 - 63) and some are friends from the first ten years of married life that Margaret and I spent in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire (1968 - 78). From 1978 to 1988, we lived and worked in a small village in rural Gloucestershire, bringing up our three children (Jenni, Ruth and Thomas) before moving to Wales in 1988.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to our charity, Bwlch y Sarnau Community Centre, and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks.

Neil Nuttall