A Slice of Victory

CSSC member, Olly Akanwo (Housing Benefit Strategy Division), had contemplated running a marathon for quite some time. However, this year, driven by personal circumstances, she decided she would finally put her best foot forward and take the plunge. Her story is below:

"For years I talked about running a marathon, but lacked the confidence in my ability to take on such a gruelling challenge. Finally, the need to put my fear to bed presented itself for me on what was a very poignant date, the anniversary date of my sister-in-law's burial. I decided to bite the bullet and run my first half marathon on Sunday 27 September and, at the same time, raise funds for a cancer charity in her honour.

"My manager, Penny Higgins, was in total support from day one and offered to take part in a smaller run with me. I had five months to prepare for the half marathon and we were so keen to kick start our new found interest that we approached several cancer charities seeking entry to the first available 10k run. I was absolutely devastated when I discovered that we were required to raise a minimum of between £350 - £400 each. I had never fund-raised before and thought that it was an impossible challenge.

"We kept an eye out for other forthcoming runs and registered early for the London 10k. We persuaded two male friends to join us, not that Tony and Ashley needed much persuading. We agreed to set up a training log and recorded our weekly training. Needless to say that we all did well on the run and had a fabulous day.

"In parallel to the training, I was making preparation for the fund-raising. I had by then set up a Justgiving website page and the support was flooding in fast. In the office, the fund-raising fever soon escalated and, before long, I had secured an agreement with the office's restaurant manager that I could use the restaurant to hold a cake sale. I sent out an email seeking volunteers to donate cakes and I received over 34 volunteers across three different divisions who baked and brought cakes in.

"Paul Howarth, Head of our division, was amongst those who donated. He managed the cake stand for about an hour and helped raise my cause via his weekly updates. On the day, we raised over £400 and, as there were some cakes left, we sold those the following day and raised a staggering £485.11 in total.

"Joe, another work friend, took part in a fun run and asked that those who wish to sponsor him do so via my website. My website total stands at £1,510 at the time of writing this. Please visit www.justgiving.com/ollyakanwo to donate. All donations will be greatly appreciated.

"I have managed to raise a staggering amount. This would not have been possible without the tremendous support from many of my work colleagues who not only sponsored me but also helped me raise the fantastic £485.11 with the cake sale! Special thanks to Paul Howarth and my Manager, Penny Higgins, and all 34 of my colleagues across HBSD, LAPD and HRAD, who all pulled together and donated baked and bought cakes, and also helped manage the cake table. I really can't thank them enough."

To read more inspirational stories, please visit the Member Focus page.