Team’s 24-hour relay challenge for charity
A TEAM from Guernsey will be taking part in a 24-hour run in the UK this weekend to raise money for the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation.
The five-strong Team Donkey relay team is to run the Equinox24 at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire.
This is a 10,000m. loop and team member Dawn Sealey said the aim was to complete it as many times as possible over the period.
She organised the event with her friends and colleagues to mark her 40th birthday, and added that they will be camping for the weekend.
‘For each of us it will be a huge challenge, whether our individual aims are to cover 20k or 60k each,’ said Mrs Sealey.
The PPBF helped Mrs Sealey and her husband with accommodation next to Southampton Hospital for five weeks when their premature baby son was in intensive care in 2013.
‘The peace of mind and home away from home this gave us really cannot be underestimated,’ she said.
She pointed out that many people did not realise that when not being used by parents of a premature baby, the foundation lets anyone from Guernsey with a seriously ill child at the hospital stay in one of their two flats.
‘Recently, friends of ours spent over six months in one of the flats while their child had treatment for leukaemia,’ she said.
‘They also helped a colleague of mine who told me they would be forever grateful to the PPBF, as this took a huge weight off their shoulders in terms of finding a place to live and also enabled them to have a taste of normality.
‘The flats are essential for the Guernsey community. The PPBF never charges occupants, but they do cost a lot to run each year, which is why I continue to fundraise as much as I can for them.’
Jo Priaulx, co-founder of the foundation with racing driver husband Andy, wished Mrs Sealey and her team good luck with the challenge and thanked her for her efforts and help. ‘I really appreciate her ongoing commitment to the PPBF,’ she said.
As well as funding the flats, money raised for the foundation is used to provide special equipment, care and support to Bailiwick children on the Guernsey neonatal unit, be they premature babies, or those requiring special care, or are ill or suffering from a life-threatening condition.
n If you would like to donate to Team Donkey, there is a JustGiving page: https://bit.ly/2MQvFjI. All costs for entering the run and travel have been covered by the team so all donations go directly to the PPBF.
