Alyson MacPherson, Housemistress at The Leys School, has raised over £5k for the Red Hen Project by running non-stop round the school field from 8am to 8pm.
Alyson MacPherson, Housemistress at The Leys School, has raised over £5k for the Red Hen Project.
Starting at 8am on Friday 8 May and finishing at 8pm the same day, Miss MacPherson, who is a Housemistress at The Leys School in Cambridge, ran non-stop around the school’s sports field to raise money for small, local charity, the Red Hen Project.
Sarah Crick runs the charity and said: “ Red Hen has been supporting families in North Cambridge for over 20 years. The need has never been greater. We currently have 80 families receiving one-to-one support from us as well as food and arts/craft packs. Life for these families was tough before the lockdown, the added burden is back_breaking. All the support we can get to keep our frontline staff, volunteers and supplies (food, cleaning products, toiletries) on stream is very gratefully received.”
The Leys began supporting the Red Hen Project at the start of the Covid-19 crisis when it donated art supplies for use in activity packs. “We quickly realized that many charities would start to feel the impact of the crisis once the lockdown began and wanted to help out where possible” said Ed Durrant, Head of Outreach at The Leys.
Miss MacPherson said: “I wanted to support a local charity, in Cambridge, that focuses on the welfare and wellbeing of children. When I came across the work of Red Hen they seem to be a worthwhile project to support, especially in these difficult times.
“I have been a runner for many years, enjoying running long-distances but, given the lockdown, I am limiting myself to the playing field of the Leys School where I am resident as a house mistress. I have participated in a two- hour run in the past but that was over a six-mile loop where monotony wasn’t too much of an issue. A repetitive 500-metre loop of school field will be a different mental challenge.”
You can add to the donations received by visiting redhenproject.charitycheckout.co.uk/pf/missmacruns