Henry runs Lake Garda marathon for Shropshire charity fund

Henry Graham of Barrow between Much Wenlock and Broseley only started running a year ago after moving to London. Now he is in serious training to complete the Lake Garda marathon in Italy on April 6 with eight running colleagues.

Henry hopes to raise up to £1,000 for the Acorn Fund, a new grants fund backed by businesses across the county and administered by Shropshire Community Foundation.

The Acorn Fund’s first round of grants will be given to community organisations offering projects supporting people who are isolated or suffering from loneliness.

Henry said that he and his running colleagues had decided they wanted to run a marathon but knew it was difficult to get places in the London marathon.

“We have done most of our training in London so we decided to go somewhere different and quickly agreed on Lake Garda. The marathon takes place around the top third of the lake and it is quite spectacular,” he said.

He decided to raise money for the Acorn Fund after hearing about it from his mother, Selina Graham, who is involved with the Shropshire Community Foundation.

“I was interested to find out that its first round of grants will be aimed at helping deal with loneliness and isolation. Coming from a farming family I appreciate that there is a problem of loneliness and isolation in rural communities where people can feel disconnected from one another. I was also at university during Covid and know how hard the lockdown was for some people,” he added.

Henry is well into his training schedule and has already raised over £400 towards his target of £1,000.

“The training is going well – I’m beginning to really enjoy the running. And the fund raising is also going well. I’m hoping I may even be able to exceed my target,” he said.

Details on how to support Henry’s fund raising are available at https://www.justgiving.com/page/henry-graham-1