Vale duo complete charity run
A Vale-supporting father and son have completed their half-marathon run in aid of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Cancer Centre Appeal.
Shaun Jenkinson and his son Jack completed the Tunbridge Wells half-marathon on 2nd March 2014 in order to raise money for the the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Cancer Centre Appeal.
The Jenkinsons managed to complete the race despite Jack suffering an injury which slowed them down considerably.
Why did they run it?
Shaun struck up a friendship earlier this season with a fellow Valiant called Steve Hewitt. Steve tragically lost his son Archie through cancer just a week before his second birthday and it struck a chord with Shaun.
Shaun told OVF: “The reason I was attracted to the charity is because my younger two year-old brother also died as a result of cancer many years ago. I can therefore relate to the affects on a family in losing a sibling or child.
“My 17 year old son, Jack resides in Tunbridge Wells, Kent and asked if I would run the Tunbridge Wells half-marathon with him. It’s his local race and we have previously ran the Bexhill half-marathon.
“We decided we’d do it to raise some money for Birmingham Hospital’s cancer unit, even though it meant we would miss the Wolves away game as a result.
We think it was the right thing to do and we’d be delighted if our fellow Vale fans could help us by donating to our good cause…
“But we think it was the right thing to do and we’d be delighted if our fellow Vale fans could help us by donating to our good cause.”
Steve added: “We lost our son, Archie, just over a year ago on 6th February 2013 and although it’s been the most difficult of times we decided straight away that we would keep his memory alive by doing all we could to raise money for the Cancer Centre Appeal at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Cancer Centre where he spent a lot of his time having treatment.
“Their target is £4m and through the support of so many family and friends our fundraising efforts have so far reached over £20,500.
“We think it’s great that Shaun and Jack are fundraising for a very worthwhile cause but to do it also in memory of our son we can’t thank them enough. The money raised would not only reward their efforts but help the Hospital to get closer to their target as well.”
If you’d like to make a donation to Shaun and Jack’s charity run please do so through this link
For more information on all the fundraising efforts made in memory of Archie Hewitt please visit this page