Brothers go to great lengths for hospital charity
TWO brothers from Uxbridge have completed three marathons between them, raising over £3,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity).
Eight-year-old Sulaiman and his seven-year-old brother Adam are running for TeamGOSH as part of the 2.6 Challenge, which was set up by organisers of the biggest massparticipation sports events across the country to raise vital funds to help the UK’s charities.
The brothers were inspired to take on the challenge after visiting their friend’s sister at Great Ormond Street Hospital last summer. The experience had a lasting effect on the boys and, after reading some of the testimonies of children and their families on the GOSH Charity website, they wanted to see what they could do to help.
As they raced to complete over 126km over several days, they soon smashed through their initial fundraising target of £500 and have so far raised £3,357 for the hospital.
The money raised by Sulaiman and Adam will help support the hospital deliver the very best in life-changing care to children with rare and complex conditions. The need for this does not change because of the current crisis – the work is more important than ever to ensure there is no longer term impact on the care the hospital can deliver to seriously ill children, once the crisis is over.
Like other charities, GOSH Charity is facing disruption to its fundraising activities with many cancelled or postponed due to the ongoing crisis. The money raised by Sulaiman and Adam will help the charity to continue its support of the hospital at a time when it needs this support more than ever.
Sulaiman and Adam’s mum Farah said: “We are immensely proud of the boys for taking on this incredible challenge. It was entirely their idea to fundraise for GOSH, after visiting a school friend’s sister who was unwell and looked after by the hospital last summer.”
Their father Imran added: “They were so moved by their visit and in the spirit of Ramadan - the month of giving - they decided to start fundraising by running. The boys would like to dedicate their efforts to their friend Ariana and all the children being looked after at GOSH.”
Sulaiman said: “A huge thank you to everyone who has donated to our page and encouraged us to run! We have enjoyed the experience and hope we can inspire others to do the same.”
Laura Savory, Deputy Director of Community Fundraising at GOSH Charity said: “Sulaiman and Adam have been an absolute inspiration completing three marathons to raise money for GOSH Charity – something a lot of us could never imagine being able to do, let alone at such a young age! We are incredibly grateful for how hard they both have worked to fundraise such a generous amount.”
To donate to Sulaiman and Adam’s challenge visit their Justgiving page here: www.justgiving. com/SollyandAdam
If you’ve been inspired to do your own at-home fundraising challenge for GOSH Charity, please visit the website on www.gosh. org or call the charity’s Community Fundraising team on 020 841 3841.