Marcella Nixon, a Fostering Accounts Supervisor from Staffordshire, overcame the very rainy conditions and raised over £600 for Mind, a charity very dear to her. Here Marcella tells her story of how the pandemic inspired her to take on running and complete this challenge:
“In the middle of the first lockdown, I decided to start running twice a week to cope with my own mental health. I am by no means a runner, and in the past, I have run for a fe
w weeks, then stopped and not picked it up again. This time I really felt like I needed it physically and mentally. Adapting to working from home full time and home-schooling two young children was a challenge in itself, but being able to get out in the evening with music in my ears was the part of the day I looked forward to the most! After a few weeks, I decided to take on the challenge of running 10km for Mind – I had never ran more than 5km at this point but was determined to do something good for a brilliant charity like Mind.
So many people around me suffer with mental health issues and I thinks more of us will do so because of the impact of the pandemic and restrictions we have to adhere to now. Mind is an incredible charity, who believe no one should have to face a mental health problem alone, as do I.
I ran in torrential rain so had to wear bags on my feet and my trainers, which were 12 years old, were retired after running the 10km (I clearly haven’t done a lot of exercise in that 12 years!!).
With the donations they receive, Mind are able to continue offering the incredible services to the people that need it the most. I am amazed at the generosity of colleagues and friends who have donated to her 10km run, and am absolutely over the moon that the Caretech Foundation was able to match fund too. It means such a lot to know I am helping to make a difference even just a tiny bit!”