Michael Bettinson
5for5k - make Mike run another 5k
Fundraising for Compliments of The House
Story
Donate £5 (or more) to make Mike run another 5km each day
WHAT AM I DOING?
30 days ago, I decided to challenge myself to a physical challenge, namely to run 5k every day - to test my body and force myself to get fitter and stay active during the lockdown. Knowing my frankly abysmal lack of integrity and self-control - I put this on social media so my friends and family could keep me in check.
An initial target of 1 week became 2 weeks, 2 became 3, and now I sit at 30 days - which in itself is far beyond what I expected at the start. I also feel hugely motivated and grateful for such a supportive group of people close to me, receiving words of support and humour after every run was awesome and hugely appreciated.
My body is pretty tired and the plan WAS to stop at 30 days, HOWEVER... Reflecting on this, I think it would be a wasted opportunity if I didn't do 2 things:
1) give people the chance to pay money to further add to my pain / support my 5ks
2) use this money to donate to a worthwhile charity during COVID-19 to help those less fortunate in the community
SO HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Simple - I've already run 5km for each of the past 30 days, I'll kick us off and donate £150, £5 for every day so far. My legs are tired and I would quite like to stop, BUT
For every donation (£5 - but feel free to generously donate more) I will run 5k for another day, so if 10 people donate that's 10 more days, if 20 people donate that's 20 more days, if 50 people donate then I think I might need to borrow some crutches...
SO if you've either enjoyed watching me painfully struggle through this challenge so far, been entertained by my new fascination with headbands, or simply want to stretch out my pain for as long as possible. Please DONATE to my JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Michael-Bettinson-5for5k - all proceeds will go to a brilliant volunteer-led charity in Brixton 'Compliments of the House' - let me explain the great work that they do.
COMPLIMENTS OF THE HOUSE - WHY AM I DOING THIS?
Compliments of The House is an entirely volunteer-led registered charity based in Brixton. They collect fresh, surplus food and redistribute to hundreds of those in-need within the community.
Since launching 18 months ago, they have been supported with the personal savings of our founder, Sinead, and the unbelievable generosity of local restaurants donating their surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.
Due to COVID-19, they have taken the difficult but necessary measures to minimise the risk of infection to guests - many of whom have weakened and compromised immune systems - by temporarily closing their food re-distribution hub In Brixton.
Despite this, CotH are more determined than ever to keep on helping those that need it and to combat the social-economic effects of COVID-19, which have hugely escalated the already intense issues of food hunger, social-isolation and guests' ability to pay their rent and other household bills. Before they closed, they collected the names and numbers of the most vulnerable guests as a solution was needed to get food to them.
So with the help of the money we can raise together, we can help CotH to:
- Support hundreds of the most vulnerable people in our community
- Create bi-weekly emergency supply and food packages
- Source transportation to make the all important deliveries
- Support with utilities gas and other crucial household bills
- Continue with our purpose to nourish people through food!
- £40 will help provide emergency support and food for someone in-need for two weeks. Each and every donation, however small, will help us achieve this
Please help me to raise as much money as possible - not only to add to my pain every day, but more importantly to raise money to help those in a much less fortunate position than us during this incredibly difficult time.
Thanks,
Mike (not a runner)
[Follow me on Instagram at @MikeBettinson for a daily update]
