Fulwood man takes on ultra marathon for Royal Preston Hospital children’s ward

Andrew Woodhead (R) raised just shy of £500 for charity

Andrew Woodhead from Fulwood has taken on one of the UK’s tallest order of challenges to raise funds for Lancashire Teaching Hospital Charity’s £1million Children’s Appeal.

38-year-old Andrew hauled himself around the 34 mile Lakeland Trails Ultra Marathon to raise just shy of £500 for the appeal.

Not only was it the furthest he had ever run before, the route took in three mountain passes with a combined ascent of 7,000ft.

Andrew, who was accompanied by his cousin, Preston-born dentist Rebecca Hanson, now a Jersey resident, said: “It took us between nine and 10 hours but it was more about enjoying the challenge and getting round before the organisers sent out a sweeper van on the 12 hour mark to collect anyone yet to cross the finish line!”

Andrew was inspired to support the appeal to make the Royal Preston Hospital’s children’s wards more comfortable after his three-year-old daughter Niamh was admitted with an infection.

Andrew has also previously raised money for the Maternity Ward

He said: “I read about the appeal while on the children’s ward and saw that among the items on its wanted list were reclining chairs for parents or carers to use over-night so they could stay beside their child.

“I had previously raised money for reclining chairs for the maternity unit as I realised their benefit when Niamh was being born.

“My wife Jennifer, a physio in the hospital’s Neuro Rehab Unit, had a long labour and as the birth partner, you want to be on your best form to provide support and help where you can so being able to stay in the same room and be on hand makes so much difference. It takes away a bit of the worry.”

Fundraising manager Roya Armstrong said: “We are delighted that Andrew took it upon himself to support the appeal in this way.

“We love to see our wonderful supporters signing up for these incredible challenges and we are really looking forward to seeing how he gets on in his other two events for us. He’s already making a huge difference.”