Four Champs take on the London Marathon for ReachOut

Four friends of ReachOut took on the London Marathon aiming to raise £6,500 to support our mentoring projects.

"I wanted to run for Reachout as I know first hand what a difference they make to the young people they work with." said former mentor and charity supporter Will Rhodes. "Teenagers in particular have got a reputation which often isn't fair and ReachOut are excellent at using their skills to show people what a positive impact they can make in their areas."

Will's extensive training regime has known no bounds

Will mentored with the charity as a student and has kept in touch as he has moved into the workplace. "I've got so much out of it ... 1 twisted knee, 2 knackered trainers and a mild dose of hypothermia! But great to do it for such a good cause." Will, who has also organised workshop volunteering with his company, has been in training for months for the marathon.

Another of our runners Terry has also known the charity for years. "I spoke to the guys at ReachOut and decided to raise a bit for their London project and help out with the ReachOut Academy boys annual trip to Spain. These boys work hard throughout the project and deserve this great experience."

Terry with his well deserved medal!

Jamie has decided to run for us after mentoring for a year and a half. He got involved with ReachOut through our partnership with his employer Macquarie. 

Runner Jamie with the mentees at the ReachOut Academy

"I really wanted to run the London Marathon for ReachOut because I see the difference it makes to the lives of young people on a weekly basis" he said. "Raising funds for ReachOut felt like a natural extension to mentoring with the aim of extending the great work it does. The young people learn so much from the projects but the way it instils aspirations in them is priceless. I feel like the partnership Macquarie has with ReachOut gives me opportunities to do something completely different to everything else I do in a week and meet people I wouldn't usually."

Finally, we first heard Matt was running the marathon for ReachOut on twitter - what a nice surprise! Here he is (below) icing cakes with a couple of mentees. "I was really happy to be able to raise some money for ReachOut having seen first-hand the positive impact it was having on kids when I volunteered during my Master's. Overall the race was a great experience, but I might stick to half-marathons for the time being..."

Matt with his mentee at the ReachOut Club

Well done, congratulations, and thank you to all our runners. You've done a brilliant job and we couldn't be more proud of you! To support our runners, give online by clicking on their names. If you have been inspired to run for ReachOut, why not join us for London's The British 10k or Great Manchester Run?