Rutherglen and Cambuslang SCIAF staff doing charity run at Edinburgh Marathon
The charity was founded at St Columbkille's school in Rutherglen in 1965.
SCIAF staff from Rutherglen and Cambuslang will be putting their best foot forward on Sunday, May 25, as they run part of the Edinburgh Marathon – relay style!
Ben Wilson, 36, from Rutherglen and Cambuslang's Jennifer Adams, 53, will both run different legs of the 26.2 mile-course.
The charity was founded at St Columbkille's school in Rutherglen in 1965, by Monsignor John Rooney and volunteer John McKee with a budget of just £8000. SCIAF is the official aid and development agency of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and now works in eight countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Jennifer, who is running the 4.4 miles 'Glory' leg said: 'I've worked for SCIAF since I left Trinity High in 1988, as a YTS in the first SCIAF office in St Columbkille's Hall in Rutherglen.
'I love what I do in the finance team in SCIAF and the amount of change I have seen SCIAF bring about in my 37 years is remarkable.
'Our supporters, our partners and my colleagues are amazing and I want to continue my support with all of them.
'My sons Scott and Glenn and my dog walking friends have been keeping me going and encouraging me with my training – this running and training has had another benefit – getting into all those clothes I never thought would fit again!'
Nine members of staff from SCIAF (The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund) will be running on the day.
The different 'legs' – the Royal leg, The Cock and Pan Leg, the Gosford Leg and the Glory Leg - are 8.3 miles, 5.5 miles, 8 miles and 4.4 miles respectively.
The marathon is also SCIAF's contribution towards the 'Relay of Hope', a global moment at the end of May when organisations around the world are taking actions to draw attention to the global debt crisis. SCIAF is running its 'Relay of Hope; in Edinburgh, calling for cancellation of crippling debts which trap countries in cycles of poverty.
Ben will be running the eight-mile 'Gosford' leg of the marathon.
He is SCIAF's director of public engagement and said: 'I run regularly at lunchtime with colleagues, so hopefully I will be ok on the day running the eight miles.
'As well as raising money for SCIAF's amazing work, I'm running the marathon as part of the global 'Relay of Hope' campaign for debt cancellation.
'Many of the countries that SCIAF works in are crippled by huge debt owed to rich banks and big business. We think its deeply unjust that private lenders can rip off poor countries with excessive interest rates and aggressively enforcing loans. It's trapping countries in cycles of poverty – and it needs to stop.'
If you would like to support Ben and Jennifer, please go to http://bit.ly/3SAWYCX
You can also support SCIAF's 'Cancel Debt, Choose Hope' campaign by simply adding your name to the petition at www.sciaf.org.uk/debt
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