Church members in Wiltshire are taking on our Seven Wonders of the World virtual fitness challenge to raise money for Julia's House.
Around 25 members of the Church of God in Swindon are taking part in our virtual fundraising challenge during lockdown, which will see them collectively cover 883 miles in total. They hope to raise £1,000 for the seriously ill children and families that we care for in the local community.
Aged from just four years up to 80 years, the active church group quickly completed the Petra Trail via the virtual app and then decided to complete all seven wonders, with a combination of walking, running, cycling and rowing around their local area of Royal Wootton Bassett.
Church leader Lennie Shaw says, “It’s a real team effort and we’ve got all ages taking part. From young kids out walking and learning to ride bikes with their parents, up to one of our senior church elders, who has been speed walking up and down Flaxlands Lane to clock up the miles.”
Lennie adds, “Because of lockdown, we haven’t been able to see each other as we would normally, so taking part in this challenge for Julia’s House has been a great team-building activity to bring us all together and raise some money for a good cause.”
One of the youngest to take part is five-year-old Tobias, who is church youth worker Liz Hickling’s grandson. Liz says, “As a church, we always look to raise money for local charities that don’t get support from government. Julia’s House doesn’t just provide care in their Wiltshire hospice, but their nurses and carers are getting out to families in their homes and meeting the needs of these children and their siblings and parents in the community too.
“We’re a small church but we have a lot of families and we run youth clubs, so the care that Julia’s House provides really resonated with us and we wanted to help however we could.”
Along with their family and friends, the evangelical church members are being supported in their challenge by more than 100 people from all over the world that watch their virtual service each week.
Claudia Hickin, Community Fundraiser for Julia’s House, says, “We’d like to say thank you to everyone at the Church of God in Swindon for supporting our life-changing care for seriously ill children and their families in Swindon and the wider Wiltshire area. It’s brilliant they’ve decided to take on all seven wonders for Julia’s House and we’ll be cheering them on every step of the way!”
Support the Church of God in Swindon in their challenge and make a donation to Julia’s House at their Just Giving page.
If you’re inspired to take part in the Seven Wonders of the World virtual fitness challenge, find out more at our our events pages.
