12 marathons in 12 months for Gogo Olive

Event dates: Sunday 1st January 2023 – Sunday 31st December 2023

A new challenge for a new year! Sarah and I (Julie) have set ourselves the challenge of running a marathon every month in 2023 to raise money to support the work of Gogo Olive. Running a marathon is in itself a massive challenge - running one every month brings this to another level!

All the money raised will go towards the yearly running costs of Gogo Olive - these include...

• Continuing and developing our work in Mutare Remand Prison, training new ladies in knitting and providing weekly refreshments for the inmates.
• Educational workshops - due to many of our knitters not having had the benefit of school education they look forward to and value these workshops.
• Giving our ladies access to an emergency fund which has proven to be an invaluable resource on a number of occasions. It largely funds health related needs but isn't limited to this.
• Costs related to Gogo Olive's vehicle. We also hope to upgrade it this year to a 4x4 to allow us to visit our ladies at their homes more safely.
• Team building days and parties throughout the year - many of the ladies talk about these as some of their favourite times at Gogo Olive.

We have set our target at £12,000 (or £1,000 a month!) - it feels like a huge goal to set at the start of the year but it gives us something to work towards all year and would make a big difference in helping us to meet our monthly expenses.

Sarah and I ran the first of our 12 marathons on the 2nd January 2023 around Kirkwall in Orkney on a very icy morning! We were joined by some of our lovely running friends and it filled me with optimism for the year ahead and for Gogo Olive. We would love to get others involved too...watch this space for ideas of how you can join us!

Thank you for supporting us, we are so grateful for you!