Local Trio Raises Over £2,600 for Foster Care Charity

Three Mancunians completed an epic running challenge throughout July to raise funds for The Foster Care Charity (FCC) supporting vulnerable children and young people in care.

The three fundraisers, Ben Scholes, Phil Crampton and Syabonga Mnembe (S’ya) who all work for Schofield & Sons were inspired by colleague and foster parent, Stephen Leach and decided to start the “496 Challenge” on 1st July and completed it on 31st July. The 496 Challenge was created by Sean Conway, who also sent his well wishes to the fundraisers.

The determined trio achieved what only 10% of people who take on the 496 challenge do! They completed it and are now among the elite who covered 496 kilometres each, almost 12 marathons in 31 days, while raising a total of £2,610 so far to support the charity in their first fundraising event.

One of the fundraisers, Ben said: “I’ve never felt like this before, my body is hurting and it’s been a tough challenge, but the best part about it has been running with the guys.

“It’s overwhelming knowing we’ve contributed to The Foster Care Charity, the work they do is incredible and when we thought about doing it, we thought it would be great to raise £200 never mind almost £3,000, the support has been unbelievable.”

FCC’s Head of IT and business support, Sam Williams and foster parent Stephen Leach joined the three fundraisers for the last kilometre to show their support.

Sam Ram, CEO of The Foster Care Charity said: “Our sincere thanks for all your fundraising efforts. I am in total awe and speechless just thinking about the distance the runners have covered over the past month and the level of endurance and stamina needed to do so.

“We have the most vulnerable children in society in our care and our vital work touches many lives – every penny raised will be spent on supporting them and our amazing foster carers.”

The charity is still accepting donations which will provide much needed support for foster children and families. If you wish to donate or share, please visit FCC’S 496 Challenge – JustGiving.