Stephen's Virtual Marathon
A huge thank you to Stephen Vinter who took part in a virtual marathon on Sunday 30th May 2021 to raise awareness and money to support APP’s work. Stephen’s friends Alex, Colin, James and Mike also ran with him for parts of the marathon. Stephen is the husband of APP Volunteer Gemma, who organised pamper packs to be delivered at Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) last Christmas, and to the new MBU that has recently opened in Wales. You can read a news article about this on our website here.
Stephen had originally planned to run the Edinburgh Marathon in 2020, but after it was cancelled for the third time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he decided to run the marathon virtually instead.
Stephen said ’In 2017, after the birth of our wonderful son, my wife suffered from an illness called postpartum psychosis (PP), hospitalising her for three months in an MBU. She was absolutely amazing and inspiring in the way she handled her recovery while continuing to be a fantastic mum. She suffered severe anxiety and depression for the following 12 months. She is now doing volunteer work for APP, helping other mums in their recovery as well as visiting MBUs.
It is definitely my turn to do my bit for a charity that is now very close to our hearts. Just under a year ago I could hardly run around the block but I decided I would set myself the challenge of getting fit with the secret objective of taking on a big challenge of completing at least one race a month for 12 months to keep me motivated. I have now completed eight 10 kilometre runs, a 10 mile race, a half marathon and a family Santa run with a further 10k and a half marathon to go before I attempt to run the big event.’
After running the virtual marathon, Stephen said ‘I am really pleased to complete the marathon and more importantly raise money to support APP. Thank you all so much for your unbelievably kind donations and support throughout. Myself and Gemma have been blown away by your kindness’.
Stephen’s fundraiser has raised more than £3,000 for APP. We would like to thank Stephen, Gemma and their friends for supporting APP and everyone who has donated.
You can still visit and donate to Stephen’s fundraising page here.
If you have been inspired by Stephen, we would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch here.
