An East Lancs woman is holding an open day at her animal holding to help raise money for her London Marathon efforts in aid of Blue Cross.
Clare Wade, 47, moved to Rossendale from Sheffield four years ago onto a small holding, where she rehomes and rehabilitates horses.
She has rehomed six horses from Blue Cross, an animal welfare charity that operates across the country, and also has goats and chickens on the land too.
To help raise money for her marathon efforts, Clare will be hosting ‘Farmfest’ on the weekend of April 1 and 2 prior to the marathon on Sunday, April 23.
This will give a chance for people to come and meet the animals and learn about the work that Clare does rehoming them.
She said: “On the weekend of April 1 and 2 we’re going to open our small holding up.
"We’ve got nearly three acres. We have the rescue horses and we have some goats and some chickens as well.
“We’re going to open it to the public to come and have a look around our place and to come and meet the animals.
"We thought that as I’m running the marathon for the Blue Cross and we have some of the Blue Cross horses here, it would be a good link.
“All our horses have quite sad background stories so it’s nice for people to see that sometimes they do find happy homes and have a good ending.
“People can meet us, we can talk to them about the animals and we’ll also have a few local businesses here selling refreshments, selling cakes and muffins, and we’re going to produce a bit of merchandise with pictures of the animals on.
"That will all go towards the fundraising for the marathon and for the Blue Cross.”
Running a marathon is no mean feat, and 10 years after deciding she wanted to tick one off, Clare will finally get that opportunity at one of the busiest athletics events in the country.
She said: “In 2013 I started doing half marathons – I did a few Great North Runs for charity and I did a few triathlons.
“I saw the London Marathon on TV and thought it looked like a great atmosphere and that I’d like to do it. I tried to get a place by public ballot but didn’t manage it.
“We moved from Yorkshire to East Lancashire four years ago and a lot of that time has been taken up by the move, the holding and the animals.
“In September time the Blue Cross emailed out to all their supporters that they’d got some charity places for the marathon if anyone was interested.
"I picked it up again then thought I’ll put my hat in the ring and was lucky enough to get a place.”
Emma Ransome, events manager at Blue Cross, said: "A huge thank you to Clare for running for Blue Cross in the London Marathon and fundraising for us.
"Our supporters are the reason our charity can continue to help so many sick, injured and homeless animals into new homes, like Edern, the latest horse Clare has rehomed from us.
"An elderly Shetland who had been neglected in his former home, we’re so happy to see him now living his best life in his new home with the other horses Clare has rehomed from us.”
Clare is aiming to raise a minimum of £2,000 for the charity.
She added that because of restricted road parking around the holding, anybody wishing to attend the Farmfest event should email her at clarewade15@sky.com to secure a parking spot.
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