Marathon mum goes the extra mile for girls’ education

Inspired by a talk given by Camfed patron and Evening Standard columnist, Allison Pearson, Maureen Stapleton decided she would go that extra mile to support girls in Africa to go to school. In fact she went an extra 26 miles – completing the gruelling London Marathon last month!

Maureen explained: “As a mother to two boys, I feel very strongly that this is a great way to do something for girls for a change.” On her fundraising webpage, she encouraged supporters to dig deep into their pockets by insisting: “The more you give, the more girls we can send to school, giving me more inspiration to complete this challenge”.

Not only did Maureen run over 26 miles and raise enough money to send 140 girls to primary school for a year, she did so with brilliant energy and wit, keeping all her supporters entertained with her on-line ‘Marathon Mum diary’:

“Life as a mother is a marathon. You need to have patience, endurance, tenacity and a sense of humour. When you decide to run a marathon as a mother, particularly when your 1-year old son is along for the ride, you need all of the above in spades.”

A big thank you to Maureen from everyone at Camfed