A Middlesex woman has run 196km from London to Loughborough in aid of children’s charity the NSPCC to help shine a light on the impact of child abuse.
Katie Lemon, who is a student at Loughborough University, ran back-to-back ultra marathons from April 24th to April 27th, starting in her hometown in Middlesex.
Katie, 18, is supporting the NSPCC following experiences of abuse as child. She said: “My own experiences of abuse have had a profound and lasting effect on my wellbeing, shaping my emotional, psychological and physical development. Leading me to feel fearful, worthless, not good enough, struggling to trust others and extremely confused.
“So many children are or have experienced abuse, and have most likely been suffering in silence because they felt ashamed, embarrassed, scared or haven’t been able to turn anywhere.
“I want to show other people who have or are experiencing any form of abuse that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it could take years but eventually you’ll get there.
“I have chosen to fundraise for the NSPCC because every child is worth fighting for.”
The NSPCC runs several services that aim to respond to and prevent child abuse, including Domestic Abuse Recovering Together (DART), a family programme delivered from Hubs across the country including in North London and Nottingham. It also runs the confidential counselling service Childline, and campaigns such as Talk PANTS that help to teach young children in an age-appropriate way how to recognise abuse and get support.
Chloe Cuthill , NSPCC Community Fundraising Manager for London, said: “We are very grateful to Katie for taking on this truly inspirational challenge in aid of the NSPCC. We want to protect children across the UK, and amazing fundraising efforts like Katie’s help us to keep running our services to support families recovering from abuse and help prevent it from taking place at all.”
Katie has raised more than £2,250 so far.
The NSPCC receives around 80% of its funding from public donations. To find out more about its work and how to support it, visit nspcc.org.uk.
