Thanks for taking the time to visit the JustGiving page of Alexis Dolling and Ollie De Sousa.

Update 1st Sept: thank you so much everyone! We are humbled and so thankful for all your support and sponsorship.

With 1 week left to go, here are the times we are aiming for on the day:

Gorey castle - 8am (start)

L'Archirondel - 8.30am

St Catherine's - 9am

Rozel - 9.35am

Bouley Bay - 10.10

Bonne Nuit - 11.34

Horse Box, La Rue Du Nord - 11.50 (finish)

This is our story....

Steve and Alexis were introduced at a Stereophonics concert in September 2022 by mutual friends. They were at the same stage in life, between them having 3 sons in their early 20s, also sharing an enthusiastic and positive approach to life. They particularly connected over a love of sport and were initially training friends, regularly sea swimming and running around various beauty spots in Jersey where they both lived.

The training developed into competing together, and they put in a determined pairs performance at a duathlon in November, in very challenging weather, soon after becoming a couple. Apparently, Alexis exerting herself to the point of nausea was enough proof for Steve - he was impressed!

Tragically, Steve died on 1st July 2023, wholly unexpectedly, despite being super fit and living a healthy lifestyle.

Steve loved competing and pushing himself to do new events. He and Alexis had entered the Swim Run Jersey pairs event in September 2023 and were in training. The course is a continuous run and swim with 5 swim legs totalling 4.5k and 6 run legs totalling 15.5k. This gruelling 20k course around the North coast of Jersey is not for the fainthearted!

Steve’s son Ollie, being his father’s son, has stepped up to take Steve’s place and will now be competing together with Alexis on 9th September. Continuing with this competition has brought Alexis and Ollie a sense of focus and helped to channel their energy into something positive. They already know that Steve will be in their ears motivating them, as he so often did with others.

So why are we asking support for this charity in particular?

Steve’s childhood was very humble and he often spoke with Ollie about the challenges he faced growing up. Steve was a talented footballer and he shared stories of how his teachers had often helped him by providing kit and taking him to matches. These helping hands enabled Steve to have these sporting opportunities, representing the school and developing into an accomplished athlete across a number of sports.

It’s this gesture by those teachers that inspired Ollie to select Brightly, as the charity for donations in lieu of flowers at Steve’s funeral. Brightly is a charity specifically for children and young people in, or on the edge of the care system and they provide grants to ‘enhance childhoods and enable independence’. Ollie feels that Steve would be a strong supporter of Brightly and resonate with the work that they do.

Both Alexis and Ollie will be extremely grateful for your support on the day, if you’re around in Jersey on 9th September, and also for sponsorship to this charity in Steve’s memory.

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