Teaching assistant's 50th birthday challenges raise £8k for children

Sunday 24 February 2019

A local teaching assistant has raised thousands of pounds for a charity dedicated to protecting children from abuse through a series of challenges to mark her 50th birthday.

Sarah Brooke has raised over £8,000 for the NSPCC in the last six months, through bag packing and cake sales, as well as a series of running challenges although her biggest one - the London Marathon - still lies ahead.

Sarah decided to raise money for the NSPCC partly because of family members who have been involved with the charity in the UK and found it very rewarding.

She explained: “Living over here it has been difficult to support them and the functions they helped to organise, so I decided that my contribution could be a challenge that coincided with my 50th birthday. This whole thing has been a 'challenge' but I have loved every minute.”

As a teaching assistant at Victoria College Preparatory School, Sarah says she also witnessed the importance of the charity’s work. “The NSPCC is a wonderful charity which I have seen first-hand do many supportive things for the children of our island. I have been part of many of the 'Speak Out and Stay Safe' assemblies where I work, which are delivered in a child-friendly sensitive way, encouraging children to speak out, knowing there'll always be someone who will listen.” 

Last year, Sarah took part in more than 10 running challenges, including The Little Miracles 100k January challenge, The Trail Monkey Winter Series, off-island Park Runs, a Night Trail Run around Val De La Mare and The Durrell Challenge. If that wasn’t enough, she also tackled a Spartan half marathon, a 10-mile Headway Race and the Family Nursing Colour Run.

She says: “My last one before I'm fifty will be The Virgin London Marathon on April 28; a week exactly before my birthday and the one I'm most terrified about. To be so far ahead with my fundraising has really boosted me and when I feel like giving up on a wet, horrid training run it pushes me to carry on. I know I'm never going to be fast, but I'm determined to do my best and raise as much as I can.”

Pictured: Sarah at the NSPCC's London headquarters.

Nicola Santos-Costa, Fundraising Chair of NSPCC Jersey, said the charity is “heavily reliant” on volunteer fundraising from generous supporters like Sarah, who make it possible for them to continue their mission of keeping children safe from abuse. 

“Sarah has astonished us with the number of challenges she has overcome to raise vital funds that will go towards protecting the most vulnerable people in our society – children,” Ms Santos-Costa said.

“She has done amazingly well with every run completed, bag packed and cake sold. We are extremely grateful to Sarah for believing in our work, and all of her generous supporters who have helped her raise so much. #TeamNSPCC will be cheering her on for the London Marathon in April alongside the other runners wearing green for us.”

Pictured: Sarah has raided over £8,000 for the NSPCC.

But Sarah refuses to take all the credit, instead highlighting that her fundraising success was the result of "team effort".

Her friends, family, work colleagues, students and parents of the children at her school, all offered strong support, despite not quite believing her at first.

Speaking of her biggest fundraiser to date - a cake sale and raffle at the hospital before Christmas which made over £2,000 - Sarah added: “I was totally overwhelmed by the cakes that were made and bought. Friends went above and beyond to help, especially at such a busy time of year. The nicest part for me was delivering all the raffle prizes to people later that evening, it was certainly worth all the hard work.”