BIG-HEARTED Serena Ford raised a whopping £1,347 by running the Birmingham Half Marathon -in the pouring rain – in aid of Your Support Service (YSS) Worcestershire Young Carers.
For Serena, aged 25 and from Redditch, this was her first long-distance run and she chose to support Worcestershire Young Carers after receiving help from the service when she was just 12 years-old.
Setting herself a target of £1,310, or £100 per mile, she soon soared past that.
“Worcestershire Young Carers supported me through my teens whilst I was caring for my Mum,” she said.
“There aren’t many people who understand the pressure and responsibility of being a young carer, but everyone at YSS did, and for that I will be forever grateful.
“It absolutely bucketed it down with rain but it didn’t dampen my spirits. I was determined to complete the race and the atmosphere throughout the whole day was brilliant, so it really helped me to carry on.
“I’m over the moon to have raised so much money and would like to thank everyone who kindly sponsored me!”
Lorraine Preece, chief executive of YSS said: “We are extremely grateful to Serena for choosing to support Worcestershire Young Carers.
“A recent BBC report revealed there are as many as 800,000 young carers in England, with six young carers in every secondary classroom.
“At YSS we support more than 450 young carers every year in Worcestershire alone, and we know there are many more who need us.”
Serena’s fundraising page is still open.
To add to her total visit www.yss.org.uk/fundraisers/serenas-half-marathon
