At the youthful age of 97, and in an effort to make the most of his daily exercise, local Taunton resident, Geoffrey Bailey, has decided to walk a marathon over an eight day period, starting on Saturday 30th May.
His daily walk from home will take him to and from St Margaret’s Hospice, the local charity who he has kindly chosen as the recipient of his fundraising efforts.
Having undertaken a recce, he has a variety of routes up his sleeve, to help mix up his daily traverse – meaning that each day he will walk approximately 3 miles. He expects to complete the challenge within eight days, taking a rest day in the middle!
You’ll be able to spot Geoffrey on his daily walk, as he will be wearing a light blue St Margaret’s T-shirt and giant sunflower badge as he walks different routes through central Taunton. He will be adhering to social distancing measures but do please wave and cheer him on if you see him out and about. You can then support him by heading to his Just Giving page where you can make a donation here.
Geoffrey, who celebrated his 97th birthday last week, came up with the idea, when he learnt that the official London Marathon had been postponed due to the onset of coronavirus. St Margaret’s was hoping to raise in excess of £5,000 from the marathon, so its postponement in April has left a big hole in the charity’s fundraising income.
However, inspired by the efforts of Captain Tom, who has raised an incredible £33M for NHS Charities Together, Geoffrey came up with his own marathon challenge. Equally as ambitious as the Captain, Geoffrey is keen to share his story far and wide to help raise the profile of St Margaret’s, who cared for a dear friend of his last year.
Geoffrey says,
I was a carer for a friend who died last March after a long battle with cancer, and the Hospice gave her careful and sympathetic support, which impressed me greatly. I now want to give something back at a time when the charity has seen its ability to fundraise through traditional means severely compromised. While the London Marathon may have been postponed I can complete this solo marathon from my own doorstep and help raise funds this way for a local cause.
A keen walker who describes himself as “rather fit” Geoffrey will use his phone, which has GPS, to show how far he has walked and to help count his steps!
Ann Lee, CEO of St Margaret’s wishes Geoffrey all the very best in his endeavours and says, “we are thrilled that Geoffrey has created this ‘Sunflower Marathon’ – what a wonderful way to remember his friend and to show his support for the nurses that cared for her at the end of her life. We are truly grateful to Geoffrey and everyone across our community who is undertaking challenges or simply helping their hospice from home, by planting and growing our sunflowers, or playing our weekly prize draw. You are all marvellous and a credit to St Margaret’s – thank you.”
Please do support this local hero by waving, cheering and if possible donating!
Donate to Geoffrey's Just Giving page here.
We've got lots of ideas to get your fundraising to help your hospice from home, to get some inspiration click here.