A young brother and sister from Leicester have raised over £1,300 for Leicester Hospitals Charity’s COVID-19 Response Fund after running a marathon distance over 26 days.

Inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore and their NHS clinical worker parents, Aoife, 6, and Ruairi Gooding, 7, decided to try and raise money to support patients and staff at their local hospitals facing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pair ran daily around their local neighbourhood, often in fancy dress, raising hundreds of pounds in the process.

Proud mum Oonagh, a Renal dietitian at the Leicester General Hospital, says her children were inspired to do something to help support their local hospitals.

“It was their idea,” says Oonagh. “We watched Captain Sir Tom Moore do his walking and they were really inspired by that. They thought ‘if he can do it, so can we’. Ruairi is very athletic and competitive. He always wants to do everything the best he can. So he said that he wanted to do something. ‘If he can walk, maybe we can run!’.

“We decided we’d do a bit every day and aim for a marathon over 26 days. It was really hard to get them out of the house and do some exercise, so it was a good way to do it every day. We kept that for our daily allowed exercise.”

Running over a mile every day, the family would even dress up in fancy dress and costumes with themes ranging from superheroes to Disney’s Frozen.

“My daughter Aoife is six and she’s not so athletic,” explains Oonagh. “She’s the complete opposite to Ruairi. So we had to try and get her engaged and do something that would appeal to her girly nature.

“It was hard, I have to say. There were some days where they didn’t necessarily want to do it and we said ‘we have to do it because we said we would’. But once they got out and doing it, it got a bit easier and they enjoyed it.”

Having started on April 18, Ruairi and Aoife completed their challenge on May 14, with their neighbours applauding them around their final leg. The pair received over £1,300 in donations from friends, family and well-wishers on their JustGiving page.

“They were very relieved that they wouldn’t have to do it again!,” says Oonagh. “They were very proud. They couldn’t believe how much money had been donated. They were asking every day ‘how much have we raised? How much have we raised?’. And every time we got another donation, that would spur them on that little bit more.

“We were really proud of how they thought of it themselves and that they’d been inspired by someone like Captain Sir Tom Moore. He’s obviously an inspiration to everyone, young and old. But I think Ruairi and Aoife appreciate how hard everyone in the NHS is working. They picked up on the national morale and support there is across the country for the NHS and they wanted to be a part of that.”

As NHS clinical workers themselves, Oonagh and husband Rich – a Haematology Consultant – have deeply appreciated the support shown across the nation for NHS workers like them, their colleagues and all key workers who have helped keep the country going during the pandemic.

“I think it’s amazing,” says Oonagh. “I think sometimes the support was quite overwhelming.

“Obviously the NHS does what it does anyway regardless of whether it is at the front of people’s minds like it is now or not. We would keep doing what we do anyway. But the support has been amazing. It’s really nice to feel appreciated. We weren’t working on the very front lines like some of our colleagues and friends, but just to be recognised like that means a lot.

“You’re just trying to do your everyday job. It made me think about all the other people who work for the NHS and the other key workers who help mean that we can keep going to work to deal with it all.”

The money that Aoife and Ruairi have raised will go to Leicester Hospitals Charity’s COVID-19 Response Fund to help purchase additional resources to help provide patients and staff at all three of Leicester’s Hospitals during the pandemic.

Anyone wishing to donate to Aoife & Ruairi’s page can do so at JustGiving.com /fundraising/Oonagh-Gooding1. To learn more about Leicester Hospitals Charity’s efforts to support Leicester’s Hospitals, visit LHCharity.org.uk