Vicki’s Running, Swimming, Cycling Groupies

A group of 14 runners, swimmers and cyclists are clocking up hundreds of miles in honour of their dear friend who is fighting cancer

When local father, Mark Bullock, 42, (pictured below) signed himself up for a double marathon challenge to raise funds for two charities that have been supporting his wife Vicki, who is fighting a terminal cancer diagnosis, and their six-year-old son Josh, he couldn’t have imagined what happened next.

Inspired by his commitment to running the Richmond Marathon on Sunday 17 September and the Birmingham Marathon less than a month later Sunday 15 October, 13 of the family’s friends and colleagues got themselves together and pledged to run, swim and cycle over 200 miles alongside him.

The team, which has called itself “Vicki’s Running, Swimming and Cycling Groupies” are undertaking a range of challenges:

• Letty Edwards, Ingrid Hayes, Kevin Des Herbert, Nicola Bastable and Claire Georghiades will be doing the Birmingham half marathon alongside Mark
• Sarah Hodge, Michelle Lindsey, Tamsyn Jefferson-Harvey, Chris Jamieson and Elizabeth Hunt are running 10km, ten miles or half marathons
• Bethan Herbert is swimming 2km and
• Karl J Andrews has cycled 92km

Vicki and Josh, 6

The group’s coordinator Letty Edwards, who has known Vicki for many years and is running the Birmingham half, said:

“We are all doing this to raise funds for two charities for our dear friend Vicki Bullock who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in February 2017.  Vicki is smart, funny, beautiful, brave, stoic, kind and an amazing Mummy, daughter and friend to so many. We all want to help Vicki but don’t know how … so a group of vicki’s groupies decided to raise some cash for The Mulberry Centre and Jigsaw South East. Both charities are amazing and support Vicki and her family in different ways. “

Jigsaw (South East) is a local charity that provides support to bereaved families as well as those facing the devastating news that a family member has a life-threatening illness. The Mulberry Centre provides information and support services to those facing the prospect of living with cancer.

Nickey Price, Operations Manager for Jigsaw (South East), said:

“We are really amazed by the army of runners, swimmers and cyclists that has emerged around Mark, Vicki and Josh at this incredibly difficult time. Collectively, they are covering a grand total of 225 miles between them, raising thousands of pounds in the process.

“As a small, local charity, we are hugely dependent upon donations and funds raised by brave and inspiring individuals like these to enable us to keep reaching out to bereaved families as well as those facing the loss of a loved one through serious, life-threatening illnesses. It is a huge compliment to us to be recognised in this way.”

Based at East Court Mansion in East Grinstead since 2006, the charity offers support to children and young people who have a family member with a serious, life-limiting condition throughout Surrey and parts of West Sussex. It also provides grief support to children and young people who have experienced the death of a significant family member through illness, accident, suicide or murder (through groups in Reigate and Guildford and East Grinstead).

To support Vicki’s Running, Swimming and Cycling Groupies

Visit http://bit.ly/2ymZyUS