STRAUSS POUNDS IT OUT
Charity’s in the running
SEVEN years ago Andrew Strauss was preparing to run the London Marathon with his wife Ruth.
This April he was due to be running it in her memory to raise money for the foundation set up in her name until the coronavirus put paid to that.
Charitable fundraising is said to be down by 40 per cent already but, with events being cancelled or postponed at best, that number is set to rise.
Strauss hopes the marathon can go ahead on the new date of October 4 and that the cricket season is on by the end of July when the Lord’s Test against Pakistan was due to have its second ‘Red for Ruth’ day.
“We had a full team of 11 for the marathon,” said Strauss, 43, who has roped in former England bowler Angus Fraser to run.
“Hopefully we will raise our funds in October instead.
“We are going to have to be creative in how we raise our money. There’s obviously a lot of question marks but there’s only so much we can control.
“We’re very hopeful that the Red for Ruth day goes ahead but there are a lot of unknowns. It is a very tough time for the charity sector, as it is for so many.
“You need to make sure that every pound that you raise and people very generously donated to you is going to the best possible people and is going to make a big impact.”
The first Red for Ruth day raised nearly £400,000 to give the foundation a huge kick-start in its opening year.
Some of that money will soon be given out as grants to those who need it most in the research field for rare non-smoking lung cancers and the support for bereaved families.
And it’s not difficult to note the relationship between the people Strauss is aiming to support and those most at risk from Covid-19 which attacks the lungs.
“People suffering from lung cancer are more vulnerable,” added the exengland captain.
“Often they’ve got reduced lung function and are potentially immunosuppressed and therefore they’re more vulnerable to this virus.”
■ For more information and to donate, visit ruthstraussfoundation.com