Do you have a challenge that you or your community could take on to raise awareness and funds for LOOK?
Our small but mighty charity will get behind you if you have an adventure or a goal that you would like take on and raise profile and sponsorship for us.
To inspire you, here are some of the amazing volunteers who have taken on other challenges to raise money to help visually impaired young people to thrive.
Zinovia – Wearing sunglasses to school
Zinovia is 10 years old and goes to Milton CE Primary School in Cambridge. She has an eye condition called Aniridia and she needs to wear sunglasses to protect her eyes from the sunlight. The last few years her school has invited children to wear sunglasses at school, bring a small donation and raise awareness about Aniridia.
This sponsored day usually takes place on the same day as the soltice, when the sun is high in the sky. This day was chosen because the brightness and position of the sun significantly impacts the lives of people with Aniridia.
Children with Aniridia are like any other lively child but one thing that is special about them is that their eyes are different. They have an eye defect called Aniridia. If you look closely, you’ll see that they don’t have an iris and their eyes appear black. This is a rare, genetic condition. Not many people have come across Aniridia, even the doctors find it unusual.
Zinovia’s mum, Anastasia said, “Aniridia UK and LOOK have been supporting our family with their invaluable services such as the annual Aniridia conference and the amazing Parents Support Group run by LOOK.”
This is Zinovia, her little sister and friends on the Aniridia Day event.
Robyn – Climbing Kilimanjaro
Robyn is a Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVI) in Bolton. In July she and a friend did an epic sponsored walk up Kilimanjaro (in Tanzania) to raise money for LOOK. It’s not too late to support her – click here to donate!
Throughout the year, Qualified Teachers of Visually Impaired children and young people (QTVIs) provide vital support in educational settings. This summer, Lancashire-based QTVI Robyn Watson took on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for LOOK.
QTVIs are often a lifeline to visually impaired children and young people. As visual impairment is a low incidence, high need disability, VI children are often the only ones with VI in their school. This can be very isolating, so the role of a QTVI is vital. A huge thank you to QTVIs for all you do for our community, and to Robyn for supporting our small but mighty charity.
We are here to support anyone who wants to take on a challenge (you don’t have to climb a mountain!) to raise funds for LOOK. Drop us a line at info@look-uk.org
Are you planning an exciting adventure like Robyn’s trek? How about raising sponsorship funds for LOOK? Please do get in touch with us as we’d love to support you as take on your challenge.
Adam – Running 1 Marathon & 3 Ultras
Adam is an experienced long distance runner who ran London Marathon 2023 for LOOK alongside three Ultras, all within four months. He’s so for one Ultra down and has two more to go. He has put all these long runs together as one big Marathon + 3 Ultras Challenge to raise money to help visually impaired young people to thrive. Adam is also Guide Runner (trained to run with a visually impaired runner).
Maybe like Adam you love long, long runs in the great outdoors? Or perhaps a Park Run PB or a 10k or a Half Marathon is your goal? Whatever your challenge, you can raise money for LOOK as you set out to achieve your goal.
If you are interested in taking on a challenge and raising money for LOOK, please drop us a line at info@look-uk.org or send us a SMS/Whatsapp to +44 7464 351958.
Adele – School children do 34,960 Jumping Jacks
Adele is a primary school teacher who signed up to run London Marathon 2023 for LOOK as running a marathon was on her bucket list. Always keen to inspire her own children and those she teaches, Adele persuaded the whole school to do tens of thousands of Jumping Jacks to raise money for LOOK. Amazingly they raised £1000 through the school while encouraging their teacher, Mrs Clayton, and raising awareness of children living with visual impairment.
Do you have a fun idea like this that your setting or workplace could take on collectively? Do get in touch with us as we’d love to support you in this!
Joe & Joe
Joseff Dunn and Joseph Hardiman, a.k.a. Joe & Joe, are great mates from school days in Cardiff. In April 2023 they both ran London Marathon for LOOK. Joe D is doing his final exams in Law at Bangor University, and Joe H is in the navy, and about to go back out to sea. They were in a band together at school and they both cycled through the Sahara desert last year, and are planning to return there for another challenge. They love going on adventures, and a week after running London Marathon they hiked up Pen-y-Fan without wearing shoes and socks! They are 23 and 22 years respectively so we’re especially proud of them taking on challenges for LOOK.
James
James Mavor has a visual impairment and he ran London Marathon 2023 for LOOK. Running has been a life-changer for James having taken up running during the Covid pandemic. He has run three marathons and now plans to run all the World Majors, with Chicago next up this autumn. We don’t have official charity places there, but James is still fundraising for LOOK as he trains and runs Chicago Marathon 2023.
Would you like to take up a LOOK Challenge?
If you would like to raise sponsorship to run a race other than London Marathon, that is absolutely great, and we’re happy to support you as you take on this challenge. Please do get in touch with us!
Encourage our LOOK Challenge superstars!
If a challenge is not for you, but you would like to encourage those who are, how about making a donation to LOOK with the reference or comment ‘LOOK Challenge’. We will let Robyn, Joe & Joe, James, and Adam know that you were inspired by them to donate.
