Adele runs up £1,000 for charity

A TAYNUILT-BASED runner’s campaign to raise £1,000 for a mental health charity by covering 100km in January has received a £500 boost from local fish farm company Dawnfresh.

Adele Clarke has battled depression for much of her adult life and decided to take up the challenge to raise funds for MIND – a mental health charity. Throughout the month of January, she was running a combined total of 100km around the village of Taynuilt.

The campaign had reached a quarter of its £1,000 target when Dawnfresh Farming approached Adele with a donation of £500. She had hoped to reach her donation target before the end of the month.

Adele said: ‘I’ve had issues with depression and anxiety for much of my 20s and recently opened up about it in my blog – Nest and Dressed.

‘I was overwhelmed by the support I received and wanted to do more to raise awareness of mental health problems, particularly in my local area.

‘I’m still very much a beginner when it comes to running but that’s the point. You don’t need to be a professional athlete to get outside and run, jog or walk. I’ve had some great support from local people, with friends and family joining me for runs and many generous donations.

‘My partner, Andy, works at the Dawnfresh site on Loch Etive and when I started the RED January challenge, he approached his bosses to see if they would be interested in supporting me. Neither of us were expecting such a generous donation and it’s really great to see a local company supporting local people in this way.’

Alison Hutchins, farming director for Dawnfresh, said: ‘We want to make sure our staff feel supported, particularly when it comes to mental health. So, when Andy first told me about Adele’s challenge, I knew this was something we had to support.

‘Most of our team are from the local area and we feel a deep connection to the community. To see the support Adele has received throughout the village was inspiring and the donation was the least we could do in getting her to that overall target.’

Adele is encouraging Oban residents to either donate via her Just Giving page (www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ nest-and-dressed) or join her for a run and see the benefits for themselves.