Morecambe man to run 10 marathons in 10 days – Friday 8 May – Sunday 17 May

Morecambe man to run 10 marathons in 10 days. A Morecambe man who has run 11 marathons in eight years faces his toughest challenge yet.

Forty-eight year old Andrew Shanley has pledged to run 10 marathons in 10 days to raise £3,000 for a Lake District based charity that works with young people.

Setting out on Friday 8 May and finishing on Sunday 17 May, along with 14 others who were selected for the event, Andrew will run the same 26.2 miles each day. The anti-clockwise route will see him circumnavigating England’s longest lake, Windermere ten times.

Described by adventurer and extreme survival expert Bear Grylls as “an epic challenge that will require an epic strength of mind”, only 79 people have completed it since it started in 2007. It is organised by the charity Brathay Trust as their flagship fundraiser.

The father of three, a self-employed air conditioning engineer, says he started running half marathons in 2007 as a way of losing weight and keeping motivated.

He said; “My sons helped me train by riding out on their bikes while I ran. A mile seemed such a long way and I’d ask how far we’d gone and get the reply “only quarter of a mile, dad!” But I got there and in 2009 I went on to run my first marathon which impressed my dad just before he died of cancer.

“Now our whole family is into running, it’s a big part of our lives. As well as sons Joseph (23) and Daniel (21) who got me started on their bikes on Morecambe promenade, my other son Jack (12) is a runner. He recently competed in the Toronto 5k with my wife Julie and peddles along on some of my runs for support and company. And Julie, who has run many half marathons, tackled the London Marathon with me last year“, explained Andrew.

Andrew says he’s also glad of the support of this other running family, the Lancaster and Morecambe Athletics Club of which he has been a member for the last seven years.

He says one of his favourite training routes is from Morecambe to Lancaster as he never tires of the views and a run home along by the river Lune.

Andrew, whose mother died of cancer when he was 17 years old knows what it’s like to be left with a massive void in your life. He said: “This is why when I see what Brathay does with vulnerable children and young people I can relate to how important their work is. They work with many of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged to help them develop the skills, confidence and motivation to make positive choices in their lives.”

Scott Umpleby, Head of Fundraising at Brathay Trust, says the charity appreciates all that the runners do, including putting their lives on hold to prepare for the event and to fundraise. Scott describes is at one of the most scenic, and challenging, marathons in Europe and said: “It requires an amazing strength of mind and is surely proof that ordinary people can do extra-ordinary things. It’s an ethos that inspires our work with young people.”

Andrew Shanley has already raised £750 for local and national charities including Marie Curie and St John’s Hospice. Local people and businesses are supporting him once more with donations now total £ £1,776 towards his £3,000 target for the Ambleside based Brathay Trust.

To support Andrew visit his JustGiving page.

Blogs and video updates charting Andrew’s progress will be posted here during the event:

Supporters can also follow the 10in10 on Twitter: @Brathay10in10

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To contact Andrew call 07767473731 or email him.

Image shows Andrew Shanley who is running 10 marathons in 10 days this May.

An Ambleside based charity that gives young people life changing outdoor experiences is appealing for people to get involved in a ‘Gift Your Gear’ initiative.

The brainchild of Sarah Howcroft, co-founder of Rohan, the charity run Gift Your Gear partners unwanted outdoor clothing and equipment with those who need it and who don’t usually get a chance to be in the outdoors.

Until the end of March unwanted adult or child waterproofs, fleeces, outdoor trousers, insulated jackets, gloves, hats and boots can be dropped off at any Rohan shop – including their Ambleside and Keswick stores. Rohan are thanking those who give with 15% off a full price purchase made the same day as a qualifying donation.

This is the second time Brathay Trust will benefit from the scheme. In October 2013 Gift Your Gear presented Brathay with 203 items of outdoor clothing with a conservative replacement value of £8,000. So the scheme also means Brathay’s hard-pressed funds can be used to reach even more young people.

As Scott Umpleby explained: “Brathay works with 7,000 young people from diverse backgrounds every year. For many of them who come to our Lake District centres it’s their first experience of the outdoors. Being warm, dry and prepared makes a great different to their experience. As the well-known saying goes ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing’. Most homes have a collection of outdoor clothes and ‘just in case’ equipment ‘just in case’. If you’ve got coats, gloves or other items you don’t use anymore sitting around in cupboards, drawers and wardrobes now’s the time to give them a new lease of life.”

Gift Your Gear accepts all unwanted waterproofs, fleeces, outdoor trousers, insulated jackets, gloves, hats and boots for adults and children.

The Gift Your Gear collaboration with Rohan will run throughout March.

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Image shows, left to right: Sarah Howcroft, founder GiftYourGear; Paul Russell, Manager Rohan’s Ambleside store; Mark Allen, Brathay’s Technical Officer; Scott Umpleby, Brathay’s Head of Fundraising.

Notes to editors:
About Gift Your Gear – Partnering the unwanted with the needed. An award-winning nationwide initiative founded by Sarah Howcroft, part founder of Rohan. Gift Your Gear provides outdoor clothing and equipment to community organisations, youth groups & charities working with young people in the outdoors.
About Brathay Trust – Brathay’s charitable work benefits young people up to 25 years of age including the severely disadvantaged, those at risk of exploitation or offending, care leavers, young offenders, those not in education, employment or training, high achievers and young leaders.

Leicestershire bride and groom to start married life by running 10 marathons in 10 days. May 2015

A couple from Leicestershire who are starting married life by running 10 marathons in 10 days say it will be tough but it won’t be the road to ruin.

Within three weeks of getting married Craig Johnson and Caroline Scrimshaw will aim to run 26.2 miles in a daily lap of England’s longest lake, Windermere. Pledging to raise £10,000 for a charity that works with young people, their monumental challenge starts in the Lake District on Friday 8 May and finishes on Sunday 17 May.

Described by adventurer and extreme survival expert Bear Grylls as “an epic challenge that will require an epic strength of mind”, only 79 people have completed it since it started in 2007. The couple will join 13 others selected to run in the event organised by the charity Brathay Trust as their flagship fundraiser.

Craig, 41, who has two children, is returning for a second time. He said: “I completed the 10in10 in 2013, but on day ten I had to walk the last eight miles including over the finish line. So, for me, coming back is about unfinished business; this time I want to run all 10 marathons.

The event is a first for Caroline, 45, who says she is not afraid of a challenge having already completed several ultra-distance events including a 40 mile long ‘Grim Reaper’.

She said: “The 10in10 is very different. More people have climbed Everest or run a four minute mile than have completed the 10in10. It’s indescribably tough, it’s excruciatingly painful, it finds your weakness and makes you feel more tired, more physically and emotionally drained and exhausted than you’ve ever been. But it brings out your strength and character and shows you that you can achieve the impossible.”

Whilst Craig has run 25 marathons and Caroline has run 10 marathons and four ultra-marathons, they have not yet run a marathon together.

As Craig explained: “We both have quite different running paces so we haven’t actually run any marathons together. However we get on really well and we should be okay for the 10in10. From previous experience, I know that it’s a massive emotional roller coaster, so that’s bound to affect us individually and as a couple. It will be hard seeing each other hurting or very tired.

Craig, an IT manager at Westleigh Partnerships Ltd and Caroline a Finance Manager at ServiceMaster are getting married next month (18 April) in Leicestershire. They are both members of their local running club, the Hermitage Harriers, which is where they first met.
Local people and businesses have already helped the pair raise £3,379 towards their combined target of £10,000. They are also asking friends and family to make a donation to Brathay instead of buying them wedding presents.

Both are passionate about the charity they are raising money for. Caroline said: “This is an incredibly difficult challenge. There are going to be tears, but we’re doing this for a great cause, the Brathay Trust and their work with the under privileged and disadvantaged young adults.”
And Craig added: “You simply cannot help but be inspired by what Brathay does. They change vulnerable young people’s lives for the better and often when society has given up on them. They empower young people to think and act differently, to take control of their own lives, when the world around them can quite literally be falling apart. I am honoured, humbled and proud to be supporting their work.”

To support Craig and Caroline visit their JustGiving page.

Blogs and video updates charting Craig and Caroline’s progress will be posted here during the event.

Supporters can also follow the 10in10 on Twitter: @Brathay10in10

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Image shows Craig Johnson and Caroline Scrimshaw on a training run around Lake Windermere in the Lake District. It is taken at the top of Devils Gallop, the notorious hill seven miles into the course.

Notes to editors:
Brathay Trust’s charitable work benefits young people up to 25 years of age including the severely disadvantaged, those at risk of exploitation or offending, care leavers, young offenders, those not in education, employment or training, high achievers and young leaders.

New appointments herald exciting phase for charity’s ground breaking research unit

A new appointment and a promotion within Brathay Trust’s research unit heralds an exciting new phase for the ground breaking team.

Dr Lucy Maynard has been promoted to head up the charity’s research and evaluation hub and Jane Pye, a practice manager for the Lancashire youth offending team, joins the team as a researcher.

Both women take up their posts at a very busy period which will see them working on a number of high profile partnership projects. Lucy and has been at the forefront of a Cabinet Office strategy to raise the standard of Youth Work across the Country, now branded the Centre for Youth Impact, with Brathay an ‘Early Adopter’ organisation. The Research Hub has a full agenda with the ‘Leading Research Wellbeing Festival’ in July; this global event is co-hosted with University of Cumbria and will bring international speakers, business and academic representatives together, here in Cumbria.

Joining Brathay in 2005, Dr Maynard, 37, from Ambleside is keen to point out that the charity has always been committed to research since it was first established nearly 70 years ago. Adding that now, more than ever, collaborations with other organisations in the youth sector are beginning to ensure that young people’s needs shape the policies and the services that are supposed to support them.

“Brathay has always believed that young people are assets to society and that they deserve investment in their potential” said Dr Maynard. “And good evidence leads to better support.”

Jane Pye, 39, who lives near Lancaster, has a background in social work with young people who have offended – one of the groups of young people that Brathay works with. With two post graduate research projects under her belt, she said:

“Young people don’t have much of a voice in the adult world they grow up in. I want to look at this world through a young person’s eyes, which is not always easy when you are not young yourself. I know that academic research doesn’t and shouldn’t sit in isolation. It should change things for the better at a very practical level.

The third member of the team is a doctoral research student, Kate Breeze, who lives in Bradford. Kate has been researching how practitioners work with families to support them towards a positive future.

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Image shows, left to right: Dr Lucy Maynard and Jane Pye, two new appointments for the Brathay Research Team.