Fundraising for Sobell House's Covid-19 appeal: 

My mother passed away from cancer in 2016 and her end-of-life care was managed by Ali Flint, who was a palliative care nurse from the Sobell House Team. We still refer to her as ‘Super Ali’, she was incredible in prolonging my mum’s quality of life and giving us months of precious time together. Since then I’ve ran the London Marathon for Sobell House in 2017 and my Dad has hosted a 'Come 4 Tea' event and visited The Hospice to speak to Junior Doctors. I really want to help Sobell House again during these difficult times, particularly in light of the current pandemic meaning all of their usual fundraising events that they rely so heavily upon being cancelled.

I have set up a virtual running challenge with my friends and colleagues at work (I’m a PE Teacher and Head of Year 10 at Bryntirion Comprehensive School in Bridgend, South Wales, after moving from Oxfordshire back in 2013). Our challenge is for the Staff Fit Club (a small group of teachers who do circuits before school together twice a week) to ‘run’ the combined total of 136 miles, the distance from our school to Sobell House, this Saturday! 

Update: 

On Saturday 23rd May the Staff Fit Club of Bryntirion Comprehensive School embarked on their most ambitious challenge yet: a virtual run, jog or walk covering the 136 miles from Bryntirion to Sobell House, a hospice that provides specialist palliative care to those facing life threatening illness, death and bereavement in Oxfordshire who treated a Andy Farrell’s mother during her battle with Cancer that she sadly lost in 2016. Their Covid-19 emergency appeal was launched as Sobell House unfortunately did not qualify for aid from the government's hospice fund and countless fundraising events that they rely so heavily upon had been either postposed or cancelled during the pandemic. 

Sobell House wrote: we’d like to wish the very best of luck to the wonderful group of teachers at Bryntirion Comprehensive School in Wales, who are today trying to collectively run the distance from their school to Sobell House, a whopping 136 miles! Having seen our recent appeal, Andy, a PE Teacher and Head of Year 10 at Bryntirion, decided to once again organise a fundraising effort, as this is not his first time strapping on his running shoes for Sobell House – he ran the London Marathon in 2017. Good luck all!

Over 20 members of staff braved the elements, pounded the pavements and took their four-legged friends out for their daily exercise to contribute to the distance required and they were soon well underway. Fortunately they were blessed with brighter weather in the afternoon and the efforts of the staff and member of their household soon started adding up. By 6pm (the agreed cut-off time) members of the Staff Fit Club alone had ran, jogged and walked the combined distance of over 195 miles, reaching the goal with plenty to spare! In addition, the efforts of members of their households, a further 112 miles were covered, meaning the they also made it back to Bryntirion in the allotted time by covering a staggering 500 kilometres in total!

All the staff of Bryntirion would like thank our wonderful parents, carer, students, friends and local community who supported them on the day by donating online to help raise more than £1200 towards the Covid-19 emergency appeal, a fantastic sum only made possible by people’s kind generosity during such uncertain times. 

Staff Fit Club is a small group of teachers who workout before school twice a week and try to contribute to the health and wellbeing of their colleagues and students with a healthy body and mind approach to secondary education. For more information please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andy-farrell21