Local charity fundraiser, Rachel Clark, is calling on everyone who has taken part in her mile-a-day ‘365 for WHY’ challenge and the entire community of Frome to join her for the final mile of the challenge at Frome Rugby Club on New Year’s Eve.
Rachel has been fundraising for cancer counselling charity We Hear You (WHY) since 2013, including cycling from Frome to Land’s End, pulling a fire truck through the streets of Frome and 2018’s successful rowing world record attempt. WHY celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019, so Rachel decided to take on a personal challenge to mark the occasion.
Communications officer at WHY, Lucy McMahon says, “I don’t think any of us realised what a huge challenge this would be – including Rachel! Luckily for us, she’s an utterly determined human being, and in her signature style has turned a personal challenge into an amazing year-long community event.
“WHY want to say a massive thank you to Rachel for all her incredibly hard work. Thanks also to the more than 3,000 runners who have taken part, including schools, community groups and workplaces and the venues and businesses who have supported the challenge – 365 for WHY has done such brilliant and important work raising awareness of WHY.”
Rachel says, “It’s been an intense but amazing year – it takes minutes to run a mile but it’s about so much more than that. Logistically it’s been a HUGE challenge, ask my close friends or family or anyone at WHY, who keep doing welfare checks on me! I just want to say a huge thank you to all the truly phenomenal people who have supported me, whether that’s running with me, making a donation, cheering us on as we pass, sharing social media posts or offering a service.
“Thanks to Frome Rugby Club for hosting the final mile on New Year’s Eve, Cheryl from Mojo Moves for the warmup, DB Max for the finish line and Ashley from Creative Solutions for filming. You don’t have to run – people are welcome to walk, or just to come and cheer everyone else on, it’s much more important that you come along than get a PB! We’ve got some amazing raffle prizes including meals out, a helicopter ride and a Center Parcs day pass – tickets available for £2 each from me wherever I’m running in December or from the WHY office. If you’ve joined me at any point this year, or if this will be your first and last mile, it doesn’t matter. Please join me to end this awesome challenge on a high!”
The final 365 for WHY mile takes place at Frome Rugby Club on Tuesday 31st December at 12.30, no booking required. Raffle tickets for the 365 for WHY raffle are available from the WHY office in Frome Town Hall or direct from Rachel at the daily mile.
