Telford woman well on the way to £100,000 charity goal after virtual marathon

Louise Jenks is a stalwart fundraiser from Woodside. She has been fundraising for charity for 21 years and has raised nearly £100,000 for Cancer Research alone.

Her friend and co-worker from Princess Royal Hospital, Sarah Gittins, joined her in taking part in the virtual London marathon on October 3.

The pair walked from Madeley in Telford to Tettenhall in Wolverhampton to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Now, they have rallied up their totals, and raised more than £2,000 for the charity – meaning Louise is only £5,000 away from having raised a whopping total of £100,000 for the cancer charity.

She said: "Doing the marathon was fun up until we got to the 20 mile mark then the pain started – our knees were burning and our feet were hurting.

"But our apps actually froze at 13.1 miles so luckily for me I had my Fitbit on my phone to track it. We only completed 22.6 miles but everyone said it's the taking part that counts. And the fact we have also raised over £2,000.

"We are both really proud of what we did. All the money is going to Cancer Research.

"I don't think I'd do this again really. I always do this joke where I say if anybody offers me a marathon I say I will have a Snickers instead. Any other event I will always be up for but maybe not this again."

Louise said she was really grateful for everyone's support over the years.

"I want to say thanks to everyone donating and supporting," she added. "From the staff and patients on the renal unit, to my family and friends and everyone on social media who has donated or shared my fundraiser.

"Everyone has been so supportive. My JustGiving page will be closed at the end of this month.

"I want to get to £100,000 mark, which is another £5,000 I have to go. That's how much money I will have raised for Cancer Research over the years."

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/louise-jenks6 to donate before the end of November.