A Salford man has run the equivalent distance of Salford to London throughout October to raise nearly £9,000 for the city’s LifeCentre.
Andrew Lane, 40, from Salford, has run a total of 346km to help the community centre hire a new youth worker.
After being a runner for more than five years, he wanted to give back to the Langworthy community and support the young people of Salford.
Mr Lane said: “The LifeCentre has done a lot of youth work, but over the past three years they’ve not had the money to employ a youth worker.
“Young people are getting a bit of a bad name which is such a shame because they are incredible and have so much potential.
“I just wanted to see what I could do to help that.”
Mr Lane continued: “I’ve volunteered a lot for LifeCentre over the last 20 years. Youth workers helped me when I was growing up.
“I looked up to youth workers and thought ‘that’s something I could aspire to be.’”
He has so far raised a total of £8,700.
He said: “It’s around £20,000 to employ a youth worker. I aimed to get £10,000 as I didn’t even know if I could get £1,000, so raising just under £9,000 is incredible.
“It’s just amazing how many people have given money as well. There have been over 125 sponsors which is just incredible.
“Especially with all that’s going on, people are being so generous despite that, and know that having a youth worker in our community will make a massive difference to people’s lives. That generosity has really been one of my favourite things.”
He has had lots of support from friends and family over the past month, as well as from the young people at the centre.
“Some of those young people I used to help have sponsored me and shared memories from when they were young people and how the LifeCentre helped them,” he said.
“That’s really exciting just seeing the difference the youth workers made in their life and now they’re adults with children of their own.”
#10kaday in October is COMPLETE!! Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me! I’m looking forward to a curry @_tandoorihouse tonight!! Managed to raise over £6000 for @_Lifecentre so far!! #lovesalford @SalfordNow @MENnewsdesk @salford_mayor #ukrunchat https://t.co/YfuLVjMmJY pic.twitter.com/nbx2mD2sRE
— Andrew Lane (@AndrewJohnLane) October 31, 2020
Beth Myring, manager at LifeCentre Salford, said: “Andrew has done an amazing job in raising money for a new youth worker for the Lifecentre.
“Our charity relies on donations from the local community and Andrew has gone above and beyond, running 10k every day through bad weather and pain to raise money for us.
“We want to support our young people at a time when they badly need it, Andrew has gone a long way to achieving that, a beacon of light in a dark time for many. Well done Andrew.”
He did face challenges along the way.
He said: “I had some issues with my leg which has been tough as I’ve had to hop and hobble at the start, but the accomplishment of doing it, being able to say ‘Wow I’ve run 10k every day this month’, is an amazing achievement for me.”
He added: “I definitely want to do more fundraising for LifeCentre, when my legs get better though.
“I’ve not got any set plans on what to do next but I will do something. My heart is to see young people in Salford thrive and become role models and leaders in our community – that’s what really matters to me.”
To help Andrew hit his fundraising target, please click here.
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