Carly Welch
Carly's Liverpool Marathon page
Fundraising for Change Into Action
Story
Why am I running the Liverpool marathon?
Running a marathon was always on my list of "things to do before I die", but I'd kind of forgotten about that list over the years, and the time limit was rather vague! Then in April 2019, I was watching one of my incredible friends run a marathon, and I found myself inspired to run a marathon myself (the incredible Nikki Dowling who did an Ironman triathlon in 11.5hours I might add)! So two weeks later, having not run at all for several years (and having never even run a half marathon), I woke up and decided to do it. I went out that day and ran/walked two miles.
I thought I would give myself a full year of training, and booked a place onto the Edinburgh marathon in May 2020. Training wasn't going too badly, but 2020 got in the way. After the Edinburgh marathon being rescheduled a couple of times, I'm now planning to run the Liverpool marathon on October 24th! If you want to know my target time - it is to get round the course in one piece!
Why am I raising money for Change into Action?
I've taken the information below straight from their website (https://changeintoaction.org.uk/about/):
"The number of people sleeping rough on our streets has increased significantly in recent years. The knock on effect is increased pressure on the support network that helps rough sleepers, teams that are committed to working with individuals to provide accommodation, hot meals, medical treatment and ultimately a better future."
"Change into Action is an alternative giving scheme supporting specialist charities and street teams working to change the circumstances of rough sleepers. Change into Action is a partnership between Birmingham City Council, the Mayor of the West Midlands and the West Midlands Combined Authority aimed at addressing rough sleeping. All donations are kindly received and held by Birmingham Voluntary Services Council (BVSC) before being assigned to individual needs."
You can read a bit more about how Change into Action has helped people's lives on their website, with some real stories:
Change into Action: Turn Your Change Into Action For Rough Sleepers In Birmingham
Contingency plans
Change into Action: Turn Your Change Into Action For Rough Sleepers In Birmingham
Contingency plans
Having got this far in my training now, I don't think there's any turning back. However, I think we've all gotten fairly used to things being cancelled unexpectedly/expectedly. There's rumours of potential October "firebreak restrictions", which could mean cancellation of the Liverpool event (I do hope not)! If this should happen then I plan to continue to run a virtual event that weekend (this doesn't mean running with a VR headset, but just doing the 26.2miles in glorious Birmingham).
So please donate!
At this stage in my training (I ran a difficult 16 miles at the weekend - 5th Sept), knowing that I'm helping to raise money for a great cause will really help to keep me going! I think I've linked this account to my Strava, so you should start to see updates. So please donate - any amount (any "change") you can give will help the cause, and help to improve someone else's life.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.