Wealth of Advice boss takes on charity marathon challenge

A company boss has announced ambitious plans of a different sort for 2020 – he is aiming to run 20 half marathons between now and the end of the year.

Chris Breward, who heads up financial advice company Wealth of Advice, has set himself the tough challenge, which kicked off with the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando, Florida.

The ’20 in 20’ challenge is in aid of charity Bringing Back a Smile, which is the Durham-based firm’s flagship charity, having recently agreed a long-term sponsorship.

Chris, 41, who is from Peterlee, east Durham, and lives in Trimdon, said: “For some crazy reason I thought it was a good idea to set myself the challenge of running 20 half marathons in 2020.

“I’ve done my fair share of long-distance runs in the past but never as many as this, so it’s going to be interesting.

“I’m hoping it’ll be a win-win though – I’ll get fitter and slimmer while at the same time raise money for a fantastic charity that makes a massive difference to so many children, adults and families who are affected by serious or terminal illness.”

Chris and Wealth of Advice are aiming to raise as much money as possible to help Bishop Auckland-based Bringing Back a Smile – which was set up by Kevin Hill in 2017 – purchase a caravan at Primrose Valley, which can be used all-year round by families needing a welcome break from gruelling treatments.

The company’s sponsorship has given the efforts a good start, but the caravan will cost around £30,000,  so the challenge is to raise as much as possible towards that over the next 12 months.

Chris added: “My company felt so passionately about the work being done by Kevin and the team – they’re doing such an amazing job in helping people who are undergoing treatment for conditions including cancer and leukaemia and really do make a difference to so many lives.

“Fingers crossed my ’20 in 20’ challenge, along with the general fundraising Wealth of Advice is undertaking, will go a long way towards us hitting our target of £30,000.”

Kevin Hill added: “We rely entirely on the generosity of companies and people who are prepared to dig deep to support us, so our partnership with Wealth of Advice means so much.

“Working with Chris and the team, hopefully we can make inroads into our efforts to raise enough money to purchase the caravan.

“That would mean so much to the many families, children and adults across the North East who we support, offering them a peaceful retreat where they can go to enjoy some quality time in between gruelling treatments.”

Chris has set up a JustGiving page at https://justgiving.com/fundraising/woa-2020 for people to donate to the cause.