Billy raises over £3000 in 1000km challenge
Billy Shameti has run 1,000 kilometers – that's 50 kilometers every week since January. His epic challenge came to an end at St Mary's last Saturday.
We're hugely grateful to Billy, who has smashed a fundraising target of £2,500 to raise an incredible £3,100 for Saints Foundation!
He completed his huge challenge with a run from Staplewood Training Ground to St Mary’s Stadium, where he was greeted by family, friends and our staff.
Billy has also received some amazing encouragement from the Saints squad. Players including Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse have given messages of support to Billy, who works for a catering company used by Southampton FC.
Billy said: “The past 5 months have been incredible! Running 50km a week has pushed my body through limits I didn’t even know I had. But what kept me going? Knowing I was doing this for such an amazing charity like Saints Foundation. The work they do within the community has inspired me and impacted thousands!
“Thanks so much to everyone for the tremendous amount of support, especially to my family and friends who ran with me along the way, to everyone who has donated even the smallest amount, to Emily who’s been working behind the scenes doing the social media, and to Sarah, Ula and Alex for putting up with me while pushing myself though these boundaries.
“The staff at training ground have helped me massively, from the doctors and physios who gave me tips and tricks along the way, to my amazing colleagues who have done runs with me along the way. The staff down there have been so supportive, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to raise this much without them!”
Jazz Bhatti, Fundraising and Partnerships Manager at Saints Foundation, said: “A huge thank you to Billy for raising over £3,000 for our work in the community. It comes at a time when our support means more than ever to our participants, who like everyone have been hugely impacted by this pandemic.
“Billy has absolutely smashed this challenge, raising an incredible amount of money, and his motivation is an inspiration to us all.”
