Dumfries and Galloway running heroes Fin and Millie have smashed their targets and raised over £10k for local natural birthing services after running the Amsterdam Marathon in October.
The local brother and sister duo led a group of 35 charity heroes around the Amsterdam Marathon in memory of their mother in October.
The friends and family of Cecile Becks-Phelps launched their Born to Run cause to take part in the city’s marathon festival, and had hoped to raise £3,000 for the Dumfries and Galloway Health Board Endowment Fund. But thanks to generous locals and supporters all over the world, the group smashed their target and raised £10,709.89.
Son Fin and daughter Millie wanted to mark the tenth anniversary of their Dutch mother’s passing with a momentous achievement, to match the remarkable work she did every day in her role as a midwife. Cecile was a huge advocate of natural birthing, and the pair were determined that their fundraising support the cause she was so dedicated to.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway Maternity Services are already hard at work putting the money to good use and have started an initiative called MPowering Babies, an animation which is designed to help inform pregnant mums about the latent phase of labour – and the best birthing options available to them.
Millie said: “Mum had always dreamed of running a marathon. She was passionate about supporting and enabling women to give birth with as little medical intervention as possible and cared deeply that they and their partners had the best possible experience.
“It’s lovely to know that all our hard work and training is going to help support other mum’s make positive choices about their birthing and continue the work that our Mum, and NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s Maternity have worked so hard on.”
Fin added:
“Born to Run would just like to thank everyone who has contributed in any way to the success of the group, whether it was donating, running, or supporting. Without the help of everyone who came together, we wouldn’t have achieved the success we have, and allowed this great opportunity to come forward.
“Born to Run started as a couple of friends and family wanting to do something in mum’s memory, and suddenly snowballed into 35 runners all coming together for such an incredible cause.”
“NHS Dumfries and Galloway Maternity Service currently has the highest level of natural birth rate in Scotland and we know that, had mum still been with us, she would have been passionately involved in the service developments that have resulted in this.”
Head of Midwifery, Joyce Reekie is delighted with this fundraising initiative and thankful to the runners for their efforts. She said: “I remember Cecile as someone full of energy and purpose. She would be so proud that her family and friends have set themselves such a challenge and are supporting a cause that she held close to her heart.”
