James Wood completed his ultra-marathon challenge on Saturday, raising almost £1700 for Samaritans in memory of his daughter Frankie.
Although he didn’t originally set himself a fundraising goal, James has been ‘blown away’ by the generous donations and support from colleagues, friends and family.
James said: “I just wanted the opportunity to say thank you to everyone. The messages of support have been beautiful, and the donations are phenomenal.”
He continued: “You’ve all made it a real event and something to be proud of. It’s turned into memorable occasion I’ll remember forever”.
James managed to finish the 30-mile ultra-marathon race from Blackpool Tower to Lancaster Castle in just 5 hours and 45 minutes. Although it ‘wasn’t as good as he was hoping for’, James was ecstatic to cross the finish line and see his son who was waiting.
He added: “Finishing the race was brilliant – such a good feeling. My family are all dead proud”.
Running in memory of his daughter Frankie, who sadly passed away last year, James proudly wore a necklace containing her ashes to make her part of the journey.
According to Samaritans, the almost £1700 James raised has the potential to fund over 350 phone calls for people in need.
Recovery Practitioner James, who works at Blackpool’s alcohol and drug support service Horizon, continued: “I started this fundraising by saying ‘if one person is helped it would have been worth it’ so knowing I’ve potentially helped over 350 strangers is amazing. It makes all the effort so worth it”.
One of many messages support shared on James’ JustGiving page was from Paul B.
Sharing his words of gratitude, Paul wrote: “You helped me get a job, get counselling, get my detox, listened to me every Friday, did a reference for SA and started the men’s group. You’ve been a majorly positive influence on me. Thank you”.
If you’d like to donate to James’ Samaritans fundraiser, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-wood-1725134219988
