Land’s End to John O’Groats challenge raises money to fund play specialist

A challenge to complete the equivalent distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats has resulted in over £1,500 being raised which has gone towards funding a play specialist at the West Suffolk Hospital.

Sarah Bones finished the 874-mile virtual course earlier this month after starting out in November last year and even managed to run a full marathon round the villages close to where she lives in Barrow.

The £1,516 she has raised has gone towards funding the new role at the hospital that her sister Claire Thompson actually ended up taking on.

The challenge to walk/run the distance from the south west tip of England to the far north of Scotland came during lockdown last year.

Sarah said she wanted to do something to “get out and about” and chose My WiSH Charity as the beneficiary of her efforts as part of their #25 campaign which marked the charity’s 25th anniversary.

She explained that Claire was working at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, as a play specialist but, when one was also needed at the hospital in Bury St Edmunds she applied, taking on the role earlier this year.

Sarah completed the challenge on Saturday, September 4, with the marathon which took her five-and-a-half hours to complete.

She started off in Barrow and ran through her neighbouring villages of Denham, Higham, Gazeley, Kentford, Kennet, Moulton, Ashley, Broad Green, Ousden and back to Barrow where she ended it at the Three Horseshoes pub.

And it was at the pub that Claire, along with locals, friends and supporters, welcomed her across the finish line and helped boost her fundraising towards the £1,500 mark by donating over £400.

“I’m not a runner but I did a bit of running throughout the challenge to help get me ready for the marathon which was a bit of a circuit.

“The majority of the time I was walking some of the distance from my home and when I got the opportunity I got out and ran about three times a week.”

Sarah, who is an account manager at a water techniques company in Bury St Edmunds, added: “It’s wonderful that I’ve raised this money for my sister so she can carry on her good work at the West Suffolk.

“It was lovely and it became a real personal thing. I could never work at the hospital but this is my way of doing something for them as they do such a great job.

“I think that it’s amazing what everybody does at the West Suffolk and I’m just so proud of my sister for what she does.”

Sally Daniels, fundraising manager, congratulated Sarah on completing her almost year long challenge and said “Our fundraisers are so inspirational. To spend so many months completing a challenge is just incredible and the sum raised by Sarah is fantastic. Having Claire ironically join the Trust in the role we are fundraising for is just the icing on the cake. She’s already become a great asset and we are thrilled to continue supporting the role of play specialist. Thank you to these two sisters for being amazing”.

Written by Russell Cook for My WiSH Charity

Main photo: Sarah Bones with her sister, play specialist Claire Thompson.