A North East councillor is putting her running shoes to good use throughout August.
Cllr Katie Corrigan, chairman of Durham County Council and Mayor of Durham City, is taking on a 100km challenge this month to raise money for local charity, The Cheesy Waffles Project.
The project offers support to children, young people and adults between the ages of 7 and 30 years old across County Durham, who have additional needs.
In March, the charity established the ‘Remote Rainbow Project’ to help those young people and their parents or carers through the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, more than 50 of the project’s members have been offered timetabled, socially distanced activities and additional support to help them learn new skills, try new activities and stay in contact with their friends.
In addition to providing personal calls, social media activities and activity packs, the project also offers a recovery programme called ‘Small Steps Programme’ which allows small, targeted groups to attend the centre and engage in sessions delivered by staff.
To raise funds for the project through her Mayor’s charity, Cllr Corrigan will run between 2 and 5km every day in August.
Cllr Corrigan, who will complete most of her runs in Durham, said: “The activities offered by The Cheesy Waffles Project have given these young people a vital focus during what has been a difficult time for all of us, so I wanted to set myself a challenge to help give something back to this amazing group.
“The project engages, encourages and supports many young people and adults across County Durham who have additional needs, giving them an opportunity to develop independent skills and engage in community work which raises their self-esteem and confidence. If running 100km throughout the month will help the project to continue this fantastic work, then I know it will be worth every step.”
For more information or to make a donation, you can visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/katie-corrigan
