Sixteen year-old, Oli Shearman, from Retford has cycled 149km in memory of the people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH), and in doing so, has raised £895 for the Trust’s charity.
Oli wanted to do something to support families who have been affected by the virus and, as an avid cyclist, thought he would cycle a kilometre in memory of every person who has passed away from Covid-19 at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Bassetlaw Hospital and Montagu Hospital.
Oli surpassed his original target of £525, and to date has raised £955 with a promise if the target goes over £1,000 he will cycle a mile for everyone who has recovered from Covid-19 in our hospitals. Oli completed his challenge over a few days, cycling across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw taking pics along the way so the local community could follow his progress.
Talking about his challenge Oli, said: “I wanted to do something to support my local NHS as my way of thanking them for all their hard work and dedication over the last few months and I also wanted to show them how much support they have. At the time of doing the challenge, 149 patients at the Trust had lost their lives to Covid-19. I set a target to raise £525 and hoped to be able to get as close to that as possible and was over the moon when I finished the race to find out that I had exceeded my target.
“My 149km ride finished outside Bassetlaw Hospital and I was really pleased to see so many staff there cheering me on, including paramedics who switched on their sirens to welcome me over the finish line!”
Emma Shaheen, Fundraising Lead at the Trust, said : “We have been overwhelmed by the support of our local communities over the last 10 weeks which has meant so much to our teams in these challenging times. Following Oli’s progress has been awe inspiring and we thank him for his efforts and thank everyone who supported him in raising money for our hospitals. The money Oli has raised will go to the Trusts ‘Rainbow Gardens’ appeal to develop memorial gardens to remember those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 at the Trust, including two much loved colleagues.”
The Rainbow Garden appeal seeks to create two beautiful spaces at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw Hospital respectfully in memory of two colleagues who sadly passed away due to Covid-19, as well as all those who have been lost the virus. With a fundraising target of £35,000, the hospital Trust is asking local people to support this worthwhile cause by heading to the following link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/doncaster-bassetlaw