Tooting three-year-old completes 300 mile challenge to raise money for her vital therapy

By The Editor 20th Nov 2020

Local News by The Editor 20th Nov 2020

A three-year-old from Tooting has completed her 300 mile journey to raise money for a charity she depends on.

Lucy and fourteen other determined children, who all have Down's Syndrome, set out to cover the equivalent distance from Land's End to Peckham in south London.

They last week crossed their socially distanced finish lines, raising nearly £40,000 in the process.

The children, aged from 2 to 9 years old, went above and beyond and chalked up an incredible 457 miles between them.

This physical challenge is particularly demanding as children with Down's Syndrome typically have some level of hypotonia, or low muscle tone, which for many means it has taken longer to learn to walk than it would for a typically developing child.

The Down's South London KIDS WALK 300 challenge is raising money for Down's South London (DSL), a small charity based in Peckham, to replace more than £50,000 of lost income that the charity has suffered this year due to the pandemic.

Watch the video of Lucy crossing her finish line here.

The service, offered free to families, is paid for by voluntary donations and through a range of fundraising initiatives by DSL's trustees, families, their friends and supporters.

Chair of Down's South London Gün Akyuz said: "Small charities like ours rely very much on the local events that we run through the year, so our fundraising has really suffered as Covid-19 restrictions have put so many of our usual fundraisers on hold.

"We are absolutely blown away by how well our children have done in this challenge, both in terms of the distance they have covered and the money they have raised.

"Their determination is inspiring and we are incredibly proud of all of them.

"In addition, as a result of the publicity surrounding the challenge, two new families have found Down's South London and their children are now being supported by our amazing therapy team as well, which is just fantastic."

Angela Gough, a parent trustee who came up with the original idea added: "We weren't sure they would be able to cover the whole distance in a month, but they've not only reached Peckham, they've gone beyond and done a victory lap of the M25 as well.

"Their efforts have inspired so many generous supporters to donate and we are now just £10,000 away from plugging the gap in our funding and securing the children's therapy into the future, which is nothing short of amazing."

The determined fundraisers are (in age order): Leila (9), Theodora (6), Tristan (5), Imany (5), Elijah (5), Beth (5), Emma (5), Eugene (5), Elliott (4), Orla (4), Zephy (3), Lucy (3), Ned (3), Mara (2) and Olive (2).

Well done everyone!