One man’s 600km marathon raises £30,000 for WATER

As Big Ben sounded quarter to four, our Deputy Chair, John Mildmay-White, carrying a Wild About The Erme River banner, ascended the embankment steps onto Westminster Bridge to cross the finishing line of his 600km Ultramarathon, RUN FOR THE RIVERS.

A group of local runners along with family, friends, supporters and local MP Rebecca Smith had travelled to London to cheer him home. He had left the mouth of the Erme at Coastguards Beach ten days earlier. John’s RUN FOR THE RIVERS followed rivers most of the way. The Erme took him to Dartmoor before he cut across to Exmoor to follow the river Exe to North Devon and then along the Bristol Channel and over to the source of the Thames at Cricklade in the Cotswolds. From there he followed the Thames all the way to Westminster.

Along the way, John found time to talk to people he met; to explain he was running to highlight the plight of our rivers and raise funds for the charity he helped to found:  Wild About The Erme River (WATER). 

The run and John’s exchanges with other river enthusiasts were being captured on video which will be turned into a documentary on RUN FOR THE RIVERS, to be shown later in the year.

When gift aid is taken into account, John beat his fundraising target of £30,000.

It’s not too late to make a donation on his JustGiving page.

All funds go to John’s WATER charity and will be used to buy items like more testing equipment to identify the types and sources of pollution in the river Erme so that perpetrators can be held to account.