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Taking on the Manchester Marathon for Sporting Memories – meet Adam

We’re always thrilled to have brilliant individuals that fundraise for us by taking up a range of challenges. Earlier this month, we had several runners taking on the Great North Run and in October Adam Caldwell (second from left) will be taking on the Manchester Half Marathon to raise awareness and funds for our clubs.

Adam is a volunteer at our group at Altrincham Football Club, having been inspired to get involved in the charity after reading about the impact sessions were having at the National Football Museum.

“I initially heard of the Sporting Memories Foundation through the National Football Museum and had heard about the club that runs there regularly.

“I know during the lockdowns that the Sporting Memories clubs became even more important because of who they aim to reach – such as those living with dementia or living in isolation – so I decided to sign-up as a volunteer and I now volunteer at the club at Altrincham FC. It’s a great group that we have and it’s been brilliant to work alongside the likes of Andy Tysoe from the Foundation and Brian Birtles from the football club to support the session.”

Adam will be taking on the Manchester Half Marathon, which is the UK’s second largest half-marathon, and it was his volunteering at Altrincham that inspired him to choose us as the charity to run for.

“I’ve chosen Sporting Memories because of my time at the Altrincham club and I can see the impact we make on people that come to the sessions. We’d like to grow the awareness of what we do at Altrincham and Sporting Memories as a whole, and I’m hoping by going on this ‘little’ run that I can do that.”

Part of the work of our clubs that we have across England, Scotland and Wales sees us support individuals living with dementia. Adam’s father is also living with dementia and that very powerful personal connection means he truly knows the power of Sporting Memories.

“My dad is living with dementia, so to me it has a very personal meaning to know I’m running for an organisation which helps to support people like him. We see all the time, as much as we love watching or playing sport, it can have a profound effect on people’s lives for the better outside of the sporting arenas, and there’s not many better examples than the Sporting Memories Foundation.”

Adam has been preparing for the Manchester Half Marathon over the past few months but with his last race being almost a decade ago he is focusing on getting to the finish line as well as raising awareness of our work.

“I’ve never actually done a half-marathon before so I’m hoping just to get to the end. The longest official distance I’ve run previously is the Manchester 10K in 2013, so that’s a long time ago!

“I joined Chorlton Runners earlier this year so they have been a massive help in getting me prepared. I’m trying to think of it as four Parkruns, then I’ll struggle over the line at the end. I’m hoping that I can run a good time but the main thing is to raise awareness for Sporting Memories and also raise as much money as possible.

“The Foundation has come along way since 2011 but can grow even further and have a major impact on local communities. I would love to see one day that every professional Sports Club has a Sporting Memories Club and hopefully raising awareness through this Half-Marathon will be one step towards that.”

Adam has asked those that want to kindly donate to his run to do so by visiting our JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/sportingmemories