Great North Run - 5th October 2008

In October 2008 I took part in the Great North Run on Sunday 5th October dressed as a giant green foot and raised funds for Lower Greenfoot, Settle Elderly Persons Home.

Thank you to all my sponsors - I have collected £305.00 for Greenfoot Amenity Fund

Here is why:

Giant Green Foot hopes to complete the 2008 Great North Run to raise funds for Greenfoot, Settle

This year Greenfoot ( Lower Greenfoot) is celebrating 25 years of caring for the elderly. It was set up in 1983 to provide care for elderly frail people needing help with day to day living, but not full time nursing care; and care for people of any age group with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, needing a secure environment and help with day to day living; all this is a very formal way of describing a place that means a huge amount to my husband and I and our family.

For the past three and a half years my mother-in-law, Gladys has been a resident at Greenfoot. She will be 95 in October has always lived in the Settle & Giggleswick District. She is a very proud and dignified lady and when she was hit by the onset of Alzheimer’s several years ago, we faced a crisis. Physically she was as strong as ever. She had walked several miles each day and was keen to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Dales, but unfortunately she was becoming confused and suffered panic attacks. NYCC and the National Health Service came to our rescue and she was offered a place in Greenfoot in January 2005; as testament to Gladys’ physical strength and the excellent care and support she receives at Greenfoot, she is still resident there today.

Graeme, my husband, his family and I cannot praise Greenfoot enough. It has been a ‘home from home’ for Gladys over these past few years, with extra benefits on top. She has been cosy and cared for and embraced as one of the family. We are so lucky in Settle to have such a close knit community and for Gladys, as a former secretary of the local schools, she is now benefitting from the care of members of the community that she cared for when they were younger.

Every member of the team at Greenfoot is special. The building is clean and bright, the flats are cosy and personal and the care is sensitive and non-intrusive. It has been a haven for members of the community in their frailer years for twenty five years now and this is the second time our family has benefitted from Greenfoot’s care. In 1983, the year of its opening, Gladys’ father, Graeme's grandfather, Jim Antell, was one of the first residents in Greenfoot. Sadly he passed away in the same year, aged 94; so this year’s Silver Anniversary has even more poignancy for us.

Therefore, as a gesture of thanks to Greenfoot I have chosen to raise sponsorship for the Greenfoot Amenity Fund this year – and how – by dressing up of course (people who know me well have come to expect it). I will be dressed as a big green foot taking part in and hoping to complete this year’s Great North Run on Sunday 5th October. I had a trial outing in the foot this weekend; attending Settle’s Cycling and Community Festival.

So far I have raised £200 (as at 2nd October 2008). My sponsorship sheets are held at Castleberg Sports, 30 Lower Greenfoot, Settle and at Future Office Equipment, White Cross, Lancaster. Pledges can also be emailed to wendy@biggreenfoot.co.uk. Many thanks.

//ends//

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Countdown!!!! Only one week to go!!

The foot was well received on its debut outing on Saturday 27th September at Settle's Cycling and Community Festival. Well done, Mark and team for putting together an excellent event with a great feel good factor!

Unfortunately because Greenfoot is not registered as a charity I have been unable to create a Justgiving page this year - the money raised goes towards the Greenfoot Amenity Fund

Please email me your pledges of sponsorship to wendy@biggreenfoot.co.uk

A few photographs (taken by Will) of me in the Green Foot