Cat's Marathons

Hello!

I'm running the Brighton Half (22nd February), the Brighton Marathon (12th April), the Edinburgh Marathon (31st May) and running a stretch of Ghana this summer, in memory of Roger - my dad, and great friend, who died two years ago, and as the first step in the creation of a new charity which will work to create community libraries in Ghana. I'll also be giving 26.2p to Prostate Cancer UK for every £1 donated here. I seem to have signed up for a third marathon in October in Frankfurt too..

The Project: Library in Ghana

As I already support a few cancer charities, I wanted to do something a little different, and I think dad would be behind this idea as he himself worked closely with a library in Darwen in the last year of his life. I've found a village in the middle of rural Ghana that would benefit from a community library. While visiting schools in Ghana, a country that has greatly inspired me, one thing I've found is that their main request for help is for books- something I can easily provide through my school, Brighton College; however, when I donate books to a specific school, I feel that they are not shared with the community enough, hence a decision to go for a wider community project where the resources can be shared. The library would not only be a place to read and borrow books, but a place where adults could be taught IT and offered skills to increase the opportunities that they have in life. I've salvaged 5 computers and a printer from dad's business to take out already. The library could host poetry reading sessions and creative writing competitions; we will help those who need exam advice, and support the local community in all ways we can through the power of books. As technology advances, we could progress towards providing kindles. I am increasingly aware that my mum and dad gave me every possible opportunity in life, and that for many Ghanaians, the doors of education are closed to them.

The project would be led and managed by Ghanaians, and hopefully supported by the pupils and staff of Brighton College. If effective, I hope it could become a model for further local libraries. I've spent a fair bit of time in Ghana over the last four years and feel I have an ever-strengthening understanding of the Ghanaian education system having led the relationship we held with the Dreamland School at Repton School. I have sought advice from individuals and organisations who have led similar projects, and am working with highly experienced colleagues. We are also in the process of setting up a charity to support education in Ghana (possibly called 'Reading Spots'), but until this is registered, Brighton College have agreed to allow me to fundraise through them. (I'm using Every click rather than Justgiving as it does not ask charities to pay a fee.)

More info on the project is found on a blog here: catisrunning.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/so-whats-it-all-about/

My Dad

I will always remember embarking on a mission aged 9 with my dad and my brother to climb Coniston Old Man in the Lake District. When nearing the peak we realised that we'd climbed the wrong mountain - my dad was so determined to complete the mission that I was dragged down one mountain, and up the next. He was the most determined (and stubborn!) person I've met, hence why a marathon seems fitting. He believed that he was Peter Pan but his time was cut short far before his time by an aggressive cancer in his face. For those of you who never met dad, he was infamous for his long-winded stories and truly terrible jokes, for supporting at hockey matches and for ordering hundreds of penny-farthings, polishing them, and sending them to me every time I needed good luck (which has been often!) I hope the first library to be named after him in some regard.

The Marathons:

These marathons will be a huge challenge as I'm definitely no runner and as many will know from my whinging I've also had my ACL (main ligament in my knee) reconstructed twice now due to hockey injuries - the damage was so bad the last time I snapped my ACL that a physio told me I'd never be able to play sport again. Luckily that claim angered me so much, that I committed what must be thousands of hours to single-legged squats in order to turn that around. These races will be hard, minus my side-line supporter, and probably slow, I know I will make it to the end still running.

Donations...

I believe this could make a substantial difference to the lives of hundreds of Ghanaians deprived of the basic right of having books to read, and work to extend the opportunities of the young and old. I will personally ensure that your money is given directly to the project.

'Where determination dwells, failure has no room to breed.' (written on a classroom wall in the High Standards Girls' School, Tamole).

Medace!

(Thank you, in Twi, the local dialect.)

P.S If anyone has any further ideas for increasing the challenge, or wants to come and support in Brighton or Edinburgh let me know!

Also, here's a video to give you a flavour of Ghana that I made about the golden place that is the Dreamland School: youtube.com/watch?v=MO7qqhbAgOg

Challenges completed so far:

• Brighton Half Marathon (2hrs 7) Very sore knee in 2nd half!
• Brighton Marathon (whoop whoop!) 4 hours 48. Felt fine pretty much the whole way round - didn't realise I wasn't going faster! Time to beat for edinburgh!! - - - - -- Edinburgh Marathon - same time as Brighton. Turned into a head wind in the second half that meant you could barely move forward! (literally!) I now seem to have signed up for Frankfurt in October to give it another go, and try and speed up a little!