Ambassador on a summer mission for Tameside charity

An award-winning young ambassador from Ashton has launched a new summer mission to raise money for a Tameside charity she has done so much to support.

Grace Merriman (pictured) is the children’s ambassador for The Believe and Achieve Trust, which helps young people facing obstacles to achieve in sport through the provision of financial assistance.

Back in May, we reported how the 11-year-old, who is looking forward to joining secondary school in September, decided to raise funds by coming up with her own variation of the 2.6 challenge. It raised £250, meaning she's now raised over £1,500 for The Believe and Achieve Trust. 

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, 2020 has been a tough year for the local charity, which has had to cancel three of their main fundraising events – leaving them without much-needed funds.

So, Grace has launched a summer challenge throughout August for people to collectively complete 500 hours of any physical activity whilst trying to raise £500 for the charity.

The youngster said: “For two years now, I’ve been trying to organise an event called ‘Setting the wheels in motion’ but once again it had to be cancelled.

“However, I wasn’t going to give up so let me introduce you to ‘Setting the world in motion’. This event started on 3 August and will run for four weeks. This is a challenge for everybody – whatever your age, ability or fitness level.

“During these four weeks, I would like all of my friends, family, Believers and anyone else who sees this to take part in some type of activity – it could be going for a walk, playing football, swimming, running, armchair aerobics, walking up and down stairs, gardening or dancing.

“The aim is that together we could complete 500 hours of activity. Each time you are active, please let my mum or Alison at The Believe and Achieve Trust know and we can keep count of the hours to see if we can smash our total.

“It would be fantastic to raise £1 for one hour, or more, to raise a total of £500 for such an amazing cause. Thank you to everyone. Let’s smash the 500 hours and £500 for The Believe and Achieve Trust who deserve it.”

Anyone who has any questions can contact Kathryn Barton on Facebook, email ksbarton@hotmail.co.uk or get in touch with Alison at The Believe and Achieve Trust. 

People can also donate by visiting Grace's Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kathryn-Barton3. 

The charity said in a Facebook post: "Like all, we have had to cancel so many events which we need to do to raise vital funds which allows us to support others. As some charities are starting to organise events, we have been asked when we are. Unfortunately we have decided that at the moment, our main priority is people's health so we won't be holding any events at the moment. 

"Therefore that’s why the support from our BELIEVERS like Grace who has organised her own event is just amazing!! You go girl." 

The Believe and Achieve Trust was founded in 2014 by CEO Alison Williams after her son Alex passed away eight years ago this month with meningitis – a rare infection involving inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord. It can affect anyone and develop into a very serious condition if not treated quickly.

Grace won a special award at last year’s Pride of Tameside Sport & Physical Activity Awards for her fundraising activities and organising fundraising events for meningitis.