How it all Began...
West
Lothian
Run was a pipe dream
in May 2008 which, for me, became a life changing decision brought
about through grief and the urge to make a difference.
On the 8th
March 2007
devastation hit my family when my great nephew Reece passed away aged
only 15 days;
he was born with a condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart
Syndrome which was
undetected by the hospital.
Reece’s
parents decided to form a charity in his memory to help provide support
to families
of other children
born with the condition.
Life saving operations can be performed but unfortunately not in
Scotland meaning
children and parents have to travel to Manchester or
London.
The “Baby Reece McGuire Memorial
Fund” provides financial support to the families and a toy to cheer the
child
up after the
operation. I had the idea to provide
running
events to help charities fundraise after i planned to run in one of the
larger
events and
discovered how difficult it was to fundraise with a huge chunk
of
money being paid to the organisation.
Research proved there
were no such events in West Lothian, although
there are running clubs there was nothing to encourage non runners to
participate.
After speaking to a few
people, knowledgeable people, and forming a committee, the birth or
West
Lothian
Run came along in
July 2008 and we began planning our first Half Marathon/Relay
event.
We are now in our third year and
are a charity in our own right, planning events from a 2k for children,
a 5 and
10K, the half
marathon/relay and plan to
introduce a cycle event this year. We
have
had
many
ups and downs over the years so far, but through
it all we always
strive to provide good safe events at a low cost and always non profit.
I am thankful to have Reece in my
life for such a short time he is my inspiration to develop West Lothian
Run
into a large
organisation helping small, local and the larger national
charities
to raise much needed funds. We are also
thankful to every
participant who has taken part in the events, some of whom have
been at every event we have done, we look forward to your
continued support in
the future.
Lindsay
XX
Donations are always welcome.