By Sophie Swain Stand Up For Southport
Sefton’s Charity Champion is planning to run between every Merseyrail station this month for charity.
Alex Rigby won the Sefton Charity Champion accolade in the Grand Pride Of Sefton Awards last year.
His previous challenge saw him run to every station on Merseyrail’s Northern Line and raise £30,000 for Centre 56.
This month he plans to make history by taking on a route covering the full Merseyrail Network, something that has never been attempted before.
The new, 105-mile route visiting all 69 stations on Merseyrail’s Wirral and Northern Lines will be completed on 28th February 2025 – 1st March 2025.
Beginning in Chester at 3pm, he will run out to all furthest points of the network including Ellesmere Port, West Kirby, New Brighton, Headbolt Lane, Ormskirk, and Southport before finishing at Hunts Cross.
Alex has already raised £13,700 of his £35,000 target, with just over 200 donors so far – he said that it is going to be ‘the challenge of a lifetime’.
You can support Alex’s challenge by donating to Centre 56 here: https://centre56.enthuse.com/cf/running-full-merseyrail-network
Alex has been putting in plenty of training so far this year, ahead of the big day.
In January Alex ran 5 kilometres every hour for 12 hours in Bootle.
He has also been training in Southport. On Sunday Alex ran over 40 miles in 12 hours, receiving support from local people and friends who he encouraged to join in.
With not long to go until the big challenge, Alex will be training as much as possible.
Centre 56, which is Merseyrail’s Charity of the Year, has been a place of safety and hope for families in Kirkdale for over 50 years.
The charity provides specialist nursery care for children aged 2-12 years who have experienced domestic abuse or crisis situations.
The charity puts children first and notes the profound impact that witnessing abuse can have on their development and confidence.
They provide a safe space for them to learn and process the experiences.
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