Disabled fundraiser in 13-mile challenge (From Thisisdorset)

Disabled fundraiser in 13-mile challenge

1:30pm Tuesday 18th September 2012 in Latest By Harry Hogger

A WOMAN who powered her way up the Ridgeway in her wheelchair in the name of charity is waiting for the sponsorship to roll in.

Sheree-Jane Tebbutt took on the 13-mile challenge from Weymouth seafront to the Joseph Weld Hospice in Dorchester to raise funds for the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust.

She was accompanied by friends Susan Newman, Lewis Newman, Andrew Coleman. Lewis Hutchings, Jade Newman, Paige Newman and little two-year-old Lilly-Anne Newman as they took on the route in pyjamas and dressing gowns.

Sheree-Jane, from Weymouth, is hoping to raise over £1,000 in memory of her mother and other loved ones who were looked after at the hospice.

She said the charity challenge went as well as they could have hoped for.

Sheree-Jane, 55, said: “It was hard going but we did it, now I’m just waiting for everybody to send the money in.

“We stripped our dressing gowns off by the old pier and we were all joking with each other as we went along.

“Going up over the Ridgeway was a bit hard but I got there eventually.”

She added: “It went really well – the weather was kind, people were very kind to us and the Weldmar staff were really kind to us when we arrived and there were lots of friends there to meet us.”

Sheree-Jane said the only disappointment on the day was to arrive and find the hospice had been the victim of an arson attack that had damaged a number of items being stored for the charity’s annual fete on September 15.

She said she was determined to help the hospice collect replacement items and help ensure the event was still a roaring success.

Sheree-Jane also got the chance to meet some of the patients at the hospice and also released balloons in memory of those people whose memories had inspired her.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Sheree-Jane for her challenge can do so online at justgiving.com/sheree-jane-tebbutt