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Loraine Barnett and Shelby Lewingdon
Loraine and her niece Shelby decided to brave the elements to support Epilepsy Society, and went for a Christmas Day dip in the freezing waters off the Essex coast. The seasonal swim, a tradition in Clacton for over fifty years, was Shelby's idea. Loraine and Shelby's inspiration is Daniel, Shelby's brother, who has epilepsy. Between them they have helped raise vital funds and awareness for Epilepsy Society and, having swum in temperatures of -2 degrees, we consider them to be some of our fundraising heroes!
Last year, Loraine ran the London Marathon for Epilepsy Society and, a glutton for punishment, she is now in training to run the 26.2 mile race again. Loraine said "I love running, but raising money for such a worthwhile charity is also extremely important to me. I absolutely dote on my nephew and know how difficult living with epilepsy can be, so I'm determined to raise as much money as I can."
Loraine hopes to raise over £2,000 for Epilepsy Society, through marathon sponsorship, cake sales and even bag packing at her local supermarket. Shelby is always on hand to cheer on her aunt on Marathon day, and last year Loraine had her very own cheer squad on the sidelines, led of course by Shelby. Well done both of you!
To sponsor Loraine, go to her fundraising page (opens a new window)
Lee climbs Everest in aid of Epilepsy Society
Intrepid mountaineer Lee Farmer is no stranger to harsh environments he returned from the summit of Everest to hand over £4,000 to Epilepsy Society.
He was the 201st British summiteer to reach the top of Everest and his love of mountains has led him into organising and successfully leading expeditions in all corners of the globe from South America, USA and Africa, and closer to home, the European Alps and the UK.
Lee’s brother Glenn has epilepsy and Lee is glad that his passion for the mountains enables him to fundraise for a charity that leads the way in research of this condition.
Not content to rest on his laurels, Lee, who lives in Newbury, Berks, is now planning another expedition to Everest, this time hoping to reach the summit by the north, north east ridge in the footsteps of his heroes Mallory and Irvine.
Angie Doherty
A parachute jump was something Angie Doherty had always wanted to do but never thought she could until her life was transformed by brain surgery.
She said a big thank you to Epilepsy Society by jumping out of a plane at 15,000ft to raise a whopping £1,000 for the charity she claims gave her her life back.
Angie, who lives in Rochdale, said: “I loved every second of my jump, it was so much fun. I spent the rest of the day walking around with a big smile on my face.
“It was a great way for me to say thank you to Epilepsy Society, before my surgery I was having up to seven seizures a day. Since my operation in November 2005 I have been seizure free and can now drive, swim, ride a motorbike and rock climb and I am also doing a degree in youth work.”
Angie and her friend Tom Mills jumped at the same time doing tandem flights with instructors. She said: “It was a fantastic experience and if it’s something you’ve always wanted to do I would say go for it and help raise money for Epilepsy Society at the same time.”
Hannah and Emma Tripp
Sisters Hannah and Emma Tripp are not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth when it comes to raising money for epilepsy.
When the girls realised the London to Cambridge cycle ride route would pass right by their front door they decided to set up stall and sell drinks and snacks to the weary and saddle sore bikers.
Blessed with one of the only hot sunny days the summer, the entrepreneurial sisters, who live halfway up a steep hill, decided that ice lollies would be the most profitable thing to sell to the parched cyclists. They weren’t wrong! By 2pm their red, orange and yellow rocket lollies had sold out and raised £42.60 for Epilepsy Society. Well done girls!
