Woman runs 100km in 30 days in aid of NSPCC Northern Ireland‘s Childhood Day

Michelle Duffy is a trained social worker and has been a Children’s Service Practitioner in NSPCC’s Craigavon Service Centre for almost five years.

Despite the fact she admits she hated running, she decided to undertake a huge challenge when the lockdown started – 100km in 30 days.

The 41-year-old wanted to do something to motivate herself, improve her emotional wellbeing and remind people that the service centre was still there for children even during the lockdown. Importantly, it would also raise much needed funds for NSPCC Northern Ireland’s Childhood Day.

The service centre where Michelle works, is based at Carn Drive in Craigavon and delivers NSPCC’s Letting The Future In and Turn the Page services.

Letting the Future In focuses on helping children and young people recover from the traumatic and negative effects of sexual abuse and to rebuild their lives, while Turn the Page helps children and young people overcome the experiences and feelings that have led to them displaying harmful sexual behaviour towards others.

Covid-19 has caused huge difficulties for the team in Craigavon because it is vital to maintain contact and the all-important relationship between the treatment workers and the young people but face-to-face contact wasn’t possible because of the lockdown.

The centre has adapted to the situation by keeping in touch with appropriate apps and video calls which offer young people an opportunity to access support in their own environment but still maintain relationships with their workers.

Michelle also has her own personal reasons for wanting to raise funds for NSPCC Northern Ireland.

She said: “As a survivor of sexual abuse myself, I realise that the lockdown is a particularly difficult time because it can trigger traumas from the past such as the feelings of powerlessness, fear of threat to life and being ‘held captive’ by the virus through isolation and reduced connection to other people.

“It can be hard to get motivated during such strange times so I decided to do something positive that would improve my overall emotional wellbeing whilst also raising money for NSPCC Northern Ireland and creating awareness of some of the work we do.

“As a child I benefited from support from The NSPCC at a time when no one else believed in me and this has given me a real passion for the work I do now. It is so important that children who have been affected by child sexual abuse get all the help and support they need to help them recover and I can see that the staff at NSPCC still carry the same belief that children can and do survive the trauma of sexual abuse.”

Michelle’s event has been a huge success.

She said: “I have to admit, it has been tougher than I thought initially. As someone who hates running and has done very little, I think I underestimated it! However I have noticed a big improvement in my emotional wellbeing and sleep since beginning the challenge. I have definitely felt motivated by the support and all the generous donations and this has really spurred me on.

“Above all, I just wanted to give something back to NSPCC as I believe I wouldn’t be where I am today without their support in the past. I also wanted to raise awareness about the taboo in our society surrounding sexual abuse and to promote our belief that children can and do recover with the right support.“

Joanne McMaster, Supporter Fundraising Manager for Northern Ireland, added: “We are hugely grateful to Michelle for undertaking this wonderful fundraising initiative for NSPCC’s Childhood Day.

“This is NSPCC Northern Ireland’s third Childhood Day and is taking place on June 26 and in the run up to the day, we are asking people to stand with us and support our work - there are lots of fun and simple ways to get involved.

“This year, Childhood Day is encouraging the people to ‘Be a big kid’ and raise money to help us be here for children. This could include organising a childhood themed quiz night, getting sponsored to dress up for the day or holding a mini sports day in your back garden but in all cases, remembering to follow the latest social distancing rules. There are lots more ideas on how to get involved and suggestions for fun events on our website www.nspcc.org.uk/childhoodday

“Funds raised by the day could not come at a better time because we are growing increasingly concerned about the number of children who will experience abuse or neglect due to the impact of coronavirus, with families struggling with lockdown, job losses and school closures. By supporting Childhood Day you are raising awareness and crucial funds to enable us to keep children and young people safe.”

If you would like to contribute to Michelle’s fundraising, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Michelle-Duffy10?

For further information on how you can get support NSPCC’s Childhood Day, visit www.nspcc.org.uk/childhoodday or contact the NSPCC Northern Ireland Team at [email protected] or 028 9035 113.

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you.