Jon Arnold

Jon's Big Tri

Fundraising for Tiny Tickers
£3,456
raised of £2,500 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Tiny Tickers

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1078114
We help babies with heart conditions to give them a better start in life

Story

I'm aiming to cycle, swim and run 230 miles across the Yorkshire Dales from Leeds to the Lake District and back. I don't know whether I'll manage it, but I'll give it everything I've got.

The challenge will start on Saturday 8th June 2019, and end rough six days later - back where I started.

Leg one is cycling 113 miles from my home in Methley, Leeds, to Lake Windermere in the Lake District. I've never cycled more than 20 miles before.

Leg two is swimming two miles in Lake Windermere as part of the Great North Swim. The only other organised open water swimming event I've done was 750 metres as part of a sprint triathlon.

Leg three is running - lots of of it. 115 miles back from Windermere to Methley, Leeds. I'll be running the full route of the Dales Way, through the stunning Yorkshire Dales from Windermere to Ilkley. Then I'll be adding on the Dales Way link route to the centre of Leeds and, finally, the Leeds/Liverpool canal back to Methley. I'll be aiming for roughly a marathon a day, on trails, carrying all my gear, until I reach home. I've done one marathon in the last 16 years, so this will be pushing it.

I'll be camping and carrying my tent and all my kit throughout the run - my wife Andrea said staying in plush B&Bs would be cheating.

Why, I hear you ask? Because of my daughter Zoe. Because of Tiny Tickers. And because of all the future babies who will have life-threatening heart defects (CHD).

CHD is one of the biggest killers of infants, and every two hours a baby is born in the UK with a serious heart condition. Tiny Tickers helps those babies get the life-saving treatment they need by improving detection and diagnosis - by training NHS sonographers, funding vital equipment and spreading vital awareness of undiagnosed CHD.

I'm privileged to be Tiny Tickers' CEO. We're a small charity, with just five staff, and every penny raised is vital to our mission. And I know the difference early diagnosis and treatment can make - my own daughter, Zoe, was born with CHD and had life-saving open heart surgery when she was just three weeks old. She's only alive today because of the wonderful NHS - I want every baby with CHD to have the same chance of survival as Zoe.

Thanks for reading about #JonsBigTri and Tiny Tickers. If you are able to donate, thank you so, so much.

About the charity

Tiny Tickers

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1078114
A baby is born with a serious heart condition every 2 hours in the UK and despite congenital heart disease being one of the biggest killers of infants, less than half of these conditions are picked up during pregnancy. That's why Tiny Tickers exists, to give these babies a better start in life.

Donation summary

Total raised
£3,455.37
+ £259.60 Gift Aid
Online donations
£1,429.37
Offline donations
£2,026.00

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