Caerphilly goes the extra mile for Sport Relief

27 March 2012

Caerphilly county borough council staff and local schools sprinted into the Sport Relief spirit on Friday March 23rd to help raise buckets of cash for the charity cause.

Events took place across the area, from fun runs, dress down days and cake sales. At the council offices in Ystrad Mynach, two members of staff cycled 296 miles in a 8 hour non-stop effort, whilst schools across the area got active with a skipathon, a whole school Zumba class and one school even rowed from Dover to Calais ( on a machine of course!).

The grand total raised by council staff and schools currently stands at £6,500 which is sure to increase with sponsorship still flooding in! Sport Caerphilly helped raise over £1,000 for the cause.

Then on Sunday, Caerphilly Castle hosted the Sport Relief Mile with over 800 people turning out in the sunshine to take part! Malika Nadia, a Blackwood Comprehensive School pupil, aged 15 who has been selected to compete at the Sainsbury's UK School Games in London took part alongside Ieuan Lloyd – Swimming Olympic Qualifier.

Sponsors Sainsburys Pontllanfraith were also at the event. A spokesman said, "It was a wonderful and well organised day with Sport Caerphilly leading the way. We are proud to be in partnership and have a great working relationship to help make an impact on the community with getting people active."

Bill Coppage, aged 70, ran the mile. Bill shops in Sainsbury's, Pontllanfraith and saw an advert instore, which encouraged him to register online and raise £200 in sponsorship.

These events set the tone for the year ahead with a number of exciting sporting events and activities on the horizon including the Olympic Torch Relay in May and the wide range of sporting and cultural activities linked to the Olympic games.