Amol's Journey

Amol was just 10 when he lost his mother to cancer. She passed away at ellenor hospice 20 years ago this July, and this summer Amol will be honouring her memory by running the length of England, over 13 days, to raise money for the charity which remains important to him and his family today.

He aims to cover 891km in just 13 days and raise a staggering £40,000.

The mammoth run begins on July 15 at Marshall Meadows Bay, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and will take Amol across to Carlisle, then down to Land’s End. If all goes to plan, he will reach his destination on August 27^th, which means a gruelling 69km every day. Amol has comfortably run four marathons -- his most recent was Newport, finishing in 2 hours 58 minutes -- but he admits his run for ellenor surpasses any other physical challenge he has ever set himself. Amol’s fitness levels have progressed over the years, but knows every day will be a struggle, he hopes to inspire and motivate others to do what they can to make a difference and raise awareness of a smaller charity. Accompanying Amol each day on the gruelling run will be friend and physiotherapist, the physios name is Rolandas Mizgeris, owner of ‘Sports Care 4 U’. Rolandas will be driving the back-up vehicle and treating Amol’s aches and pains along the way. Other friends and runners will be joining Amol for parts of his challenge to help keep his spirits up. 

The 30-year-old said: “The plan is to start each day at about 5am and be finished by 7pm. My legs and body will struggle and I’m sure it’s going to be painful from a few days in, but the memory of my Mum, and all the donations received will push me to keep going each day. On the last day I will aim to run only 40km as I’d like to have a big celebration at the end”.

Amol’s mother was just 49 when she died at what was then the Lions Hospice in Northfleet. He said: “It’s important knowing that she passed away peacefully and comfortably. I am doing this run in her memory, but also in memory of all the people ellenor have helped in their final days. I feel like I need to do this for my own closure, and to help me overcome what happened all those years ago – to raise a huge amount of money, I needed to complete a huge challenge.”

He said, “As soon as the first £20 was donated I was too far in to back out, it’s impossible that I won’t do it” he said. “I’m hopeful people in the Gravesend community will support me and help to raise as much as possible for ellenor. ellenor is a charity that has helped many families in Gravesend and provided support at a time of need.”

Amol’s family were proud to hear of his ambitious fundraising plan. He will be supported throughout the run by friends and family at different stages and will be looking forward to seeing his 19-month-old daughter, Alara, at the finish line, using it as a morale boost each day.

He said: “I hope that my Mum would be proud of me and in years to come my daughter will too and perhaps be inspired to do something similar – I also hope people reading my story or donating will be inspired too, collectively we can make such a difference to so many lives”. Amol added, “As you become a parent you feel the pain of loss more - and I have struggled with losing my mum more since having a child. The thought of her watching us grow up, knowing that her remaining time with us was limited is devastating.”

Amol recalled, “When my mum was ill, I never fully understood the extent of her illness, in my culture it’s not something that is discussed, I wasn’t aware she was dying. I saw my mum after school in the hospice and later that day she died, when I said goodbye that evening, I didn’t realise it was goodbye forever, and as a 10-year-old, carried on my life as usual, going into school the next day.”

“I didn’t receive any support at the time but now I am older, I realise having therapy or someone to speak with would have been so beneficial, as I don’t think I have ever actually processed what happened - I can’t speak about it now without getting upset. Hopefully, this challenge will raise money to support families with children and provide a safe environment in which they can discuss their loss.”

He is calling on the people of Gravesend and surrounding areas to support his ambitious challenge and fundraising efforts, it is what will keep him motivated each day. Amol is delighted; he has already raised £8,000 towards his £40,000 target but still has a long way to go. Some of the fundraising efforts so far have included a quiz, hosted earlier in June. His brother-in-law has another quiz planned in London in July, and Amol is also organising a charity football match next month. Amol said, “If anyone would like to get involved with the run or fundraising in any way, please contact me.” 

Amol would like to thank everyone for their help and support so far and would ask people to spread the word of his challenge as far as possible. If you’d like to get involved, please contact George Duffort, our Community Fundraising Officer, who will pass all enquiries on to him:

George.duffort@ellenor.org

07585 400956.

To donate, please head to:

Amol Randhawa is fundraising for ellenor