LOCKDOWN HABIT HELPS CHARITY
THIS WOKINGHAM 11-year-old’s lockdown hobby has been raising money for a personal cause.
Last year, Elodie Lewis started running to staymotivated during the first lockdown, and nowshe has collected more than £1,000 from her supporters.
The youngster recently took part in Cancer Research UK’s Virtual 10k Winter Run in a bid to fight the illness which has affected her family firsthand.
Five years ago, hermother Victoria underwent surgery to remove half of her kidney after being diagnosedwith cancer. She also had half of her shoulder blade removed.
After hermothermade a full recovery, Elodie lost her Nana to pancreatic cancer last year.
In an effort to help fund research into the disease, she decided to try and raise £150 for Cancer Research UK – but people have given very generously and shewill nowbe donating £1,025.
“I didn’t expect to get to my £150 target andwhen I went over that I felt phenomenal,” Elodie says. “It really helped encourage me out formy daily runs.
“[This money] really could make a difference to helping get closer to finding a cure for cancer, which is really important.”
Despite not being a runner before the pandemic, the 11-year-old managed towork herway up from running one mile to 10k in just over a month, andwas out training come rain, sleet, snow or sunshine.
Elodie says the final 10k runwas difficult, but shewas spurred on by all the messages of support she had received.
“I thought I would have to stop and walk, but myMum read all my fundraising messages out to me and that pushed me to keep on running,” she explains.
Victoria says after “begging and bribing” her children to run a lap of the block each day during the first lockdown, Elodiewas the only one who kept going.
“Shewas looking for a personal
challenge to keep herself motivated, so off her own back she set out to run a mile every single day during the third lockdown,” Victoria says.
“Admittedly, my husband and I were a bit scepticalwhen she said shewas going to do it andwe thought the noveltywould soonwear off, but once we sawhowdetermined shewaswe realised that if she set hermind to running 10k, she’d rise to the challenge.”
Looking back on the challenge, Victoria says she could not be more proud of Elodie.
“It’s a great achievement, and it’s been uplifting to celebrate it as a family at an otherwise pretty boring time,” she says.
Now, Elodie plans to continue running at least one mile per day until she can go back to school.
“It feels refreshing to get out of the house each day, especially after homeschool, but I hopewe’re back soon though,” she says.
� To find out more about Elodie’s Cancer Research UK fundraiser, visit: www.virtualwinterrun.co.uk/fundraisers/ elodielewis