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Paul Gawthorpe raised £8,677.5 from 294 supporters
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Closed 22/05/2017
Weʼve raised £8,677 to Help Bruce with his rehab and to provide a donation to the Queen Elizabeth Spinal Unit, Glasgow, for the care they have provided him.
- Funded on Monday, 22nd May 2017
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Story
Hello. Some old blokes (Graeme Brightmore, Antony Boot, Paul Gawthorpe, Richard Cross, Dominic Clay, Chris Stone, Andy Smith, Andy Matthews, Steven Lodge) are doing a non-stop 160 mile bike ride from Airdrieonians F.C (Excelsior Stadium) to Sunderland F.C. (Stadium of Light) on Friday 28th/Saturday 29th April. Why?
In September 2016, a very close friend of ours, Bruce Ford, 49, had an accident and broke his neck. He's now paralysed from the waist down and he will never walk again. We want to raise as much money as we can to help Bruce with his rehab and to adapt his home ready for when he leaves hospital (April 2017). We would also like to donate to the QE Spinal Unit in Glasgow.
Bruce comes from South Shields and is a lifelong Sunderland fan. He now lives in Airdrie, Scotland, and so also has a keen interest in Airdrie FC. He also has close ties with a few Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United fans as he spent many years living and working in Sheffield during the 1990s.
A few of those Sheffield mates have put their (old) heads together to think of ways to help Bruce raise the money he needs. The conclusion was: "Let's do a non-stop overnight bike ride from Airdrie to Sunderland. How hard can that be?"
Well, most of the guys are well into their forties and have not been on a bike since school. So it might be quite hard! Still, we are going to do whatever it takes to do this. It's only 160 miles ...(gulp).
Some of Bruce's friends in Scotland & the North East will also be doing the ride. Rumour has it they are even older and fatter than the Sheffield lads! Bring it on! In fact anyone is welcome to join us. If that's you, please contact paulgawthorpe@hotmail.com.
This is such a worthy cause. Bruce, despite the accident, remains positive and he has not lost his sense of humour which is a good thing when you support Sunderland!
Any donation, however small, will help in our quest to raise as much as we can for our great friend. Thanks!
Updates
2
- 7 years ago
Paul Gawthorpe
7 years agoWell, we did it! 169.8 miles to be precise (9.8 extra as a little bonus!). A monumental effort from the boys. Bruce waved us off in Airdrie and it was a fantastic experience to meet him again 17 hours later in Sunderland! A massive thanks to friends & family who have donated and to the amazing people who don't even know us yet have contributed thousands to our cause. We are humbled by your generosity. We have smashed our goal and the money is still coming in! A special mention to Graeme Brightmore for making this ride possible. Legend!
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- 7 years ago
Paul Gawthorpe
7 years agoSo, just a couple of days to go until the big one! Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have donated so far. All the training is complete. Hopefully we've done enough! The furthest we have cycled in one go is 120 miles (2 weeks ago). I have it on good authority we are all fit enough to do it! Although, none of us have tried cycling through the night with no sleep, but as the saying goes, you don't know until you try! Thanks again for your support, we are ready and determined !!
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Paul Gawthorpe started crowdfunding
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Supporters
294
Caroline Boot
May 18, 2017
On behalf of Dom Clay - a big thanks to my Aviva friends and colleagues for your support, fantastic as always
£15.00
Stuart Jenkinson
May 18, 2017
Donation from family.
£15.00
Paul Gawthorpe
May 18, 2017
From our neighbours Paul & Betty at King Edwards. Thanks very much!
£20.00
Paul Gawthorpe
May 18, 2017
From Gary Harthill at DeeperThanBlue. Thanks!
£20.00
Andrew Matthews
May 18, 2017
Final money from the staff at Honley High school. Thanks guys
£60.00
Caroline Boot
May 15, 2017
On behalf of Dom Clay - a big thanks to my Aviva friends and colleagues for your support, fantastic as always.
£58.00
Richard Cross
May 14, 2017
£200 collected by graham rust and the Wednesday boys
£200.00
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About CrowdfundingAbout the fundraiser
Paul Gawthorpe
Raising money for a close friend, Bruce, who was paralysed from the waist down in 2016. We have set ourselves a challenge to cycle from Airdrionians FC to Sunderland FC. Bruce lives in Airdrie and is originally from Sunderland. He is a lifelong Sunderland supporter.