They came, they ran, they conquered.
And, as a result, Reach Mentoring has now smashed through its £10,000 fundraising target for their big day out on the Mall.
The County Armagh-based charity’s staff and volunteers were out in force as the weekend as they undertook to run five laps, every hour on the hour, to support their vital work with children in dozens of local schools.
Reach Mentoring had styled their event ’Share The Load, Carry The Weight’, for day and daily that is precisely what they do!
Between 9am and 6pm on Saturday, nine teams each ran five kilometres – five laps of the Mall – clocking up 45kms each by the end of the afternoon.
Carrying the weight was to symbolise how the charity helps to share the load of the burdens that its mentees carry.
Reach provides one-to-one mentoring sessions in 54 schools across seven ‘hub’ areas – Banbridge, Lurgan, Central Craigavon, Portadown, Armagh, Dungannon and Magherafelt.
The schools refer young people who are in need of help and support for a various range of reasons and Reach Mentoring is there to help them through their time of need.
The one-to-one mentoring programme is funded entirely by donations from Trusts, churches, businesses and individuals and through fundraisers such as that on the Mall last weekend.
The Reach Mentoring teams all set for their challenge on the Mall.
A Christian organisation, all of Reach’s volunteers are Christians and come from the local churches in the areas which they serve.
The target of £10,000 will cover approximately 870 one-to-one mentoring sessions, which really are a lifeline to the young people they help.
Reach Mentoring CEO Jonny Hampton was delighted with the response on Saturday – and the level of support to date.
He told Armagh I: “It was a fantastic day. We really appreciated all the support from everyone that turned up to run alongside us, to cheer us on, and to those that donated to help us reach our total of £10,000.
“We’d also like to say a big ‘thank-you’ to Malcolm Kingston, at St Mark’s Church of Ireland, for letting us use the Crozier Hall, and for the Mall Trustees as well.
“It was a fantastic day that I think showed what it’s all about, as a charity, supporting our young people, that it only works when everybody comes together. It only works whenever everyone plays a part and the impact that’s going to have is being able to help deliver this service to young people.”
All of those taking part completed the task at hand – and many even exceeded their own expectations!
Added Jonny: “We had a mixture on the day of people that took the challenge on as a relay. Some people had teams of nine different individuals that turned up and ran a leg, carrying the weight. Some people had teams where people turned up and walked a leg.
“Other teams maybe split it just between a couple of people.
“But some people that turned up only planning to do one leg ended up running the entire nine legs of 45k. I managed to get the 45k done carrying a three kilogramme weighted vest!”
The Reach Mentoring team are grateful for all the support to date.
They have already surpassed the £10,000 target but the more money raised the more young people they can ‘Reach’. If you would like to support this work, you can still do so by making a donation here.
