We, Liz and Nigel Dawson are the co-owners of Cafe au Chocolat and Chocolat of Tewkesbury. We were introduced to CRY through talking to our customers, Linda and Geoff Goodwin who lost their son Ashley in 2007. The charity resonated with us, as we had lost 2 of our friends to cardiac events while in their late teens / twenties. With Linda and Geoffs help and co-ordination we decided our second hand book shelf would help to raise money for CRY and are delighted it has raised around £500 to date.

Having done a few running events we decided we wanted to go further and entered our first ultramarathon, a 100km yomp around the Cotswolds, starting and finishing in Cirencester. Our connection with CRY made it a perfect fit for us to try and raise some money for this amazing charity. Family, friends and customers were fantastic in their support, seeing us comfortably surpass our £1000 target. With gift aid we are now over £3,000 and still going. We found it incredible how many customers had their own emotional stories of how CRY had supported them or their friends.

On the 21st June, the longest day of the year and one of the hottest, we set off, along with just under 500 others. The heat and hills were brutal and we soon realised this was going to be far tougher than we envisaged but 21 hours and 130,000 steps later we managed to cross / crawl across the finish line.  The running earlier in the day had been replaced by a power walk which was then replaced by a shuffle. It was an amazing day of ups and downs -literally and mentally which meant 40% of participants had to drop out before the finish. The scenery was spectacular, and the camaraderie from other participants and spectators was heart warming. We were delighted that Linda, Geoff and Minty (their furry friend) came along to support – it gave us a timely boost to keep us going. Will we do it again? Let’s wait until the aches and pains have subsided until we make that decision.