1 March 2017
A senior nurse at the Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals has been invited to start the London Marathon alongside a host of celebrities having already raised more than £2,000 for charity.
Phil Fewtrell
Phil Fewtrell, Assistant Business Manager (Surgery) at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), will be running the world’s most famous marathon on 23 April in memory of his dad Michael, who would have been 74 on the day.
And if the occasion wasn’t special enough, the 43-year-old from Shrewsbury will join a host of famous names at the start line after being awarded a Green Starting Place for the commitment and dedication he has shown towards raising funds for The Mental Health Foundation.
He said: “I am delighted and extremely grateful to everyone who has already sponsored me. So far I have raised £2,038, but I want to keep raising as much money as possible. I have organised a sweepstake at work, so hopefully by the time the marathon comes around I will have raised a few hundred pounds more.
“I was delighted when I was offered a Green start place; it will be very exciting to start the race alongside the many celebrities taking part. It is the icing on the cake.”
Phil has worked at SaTH, which runs the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, for 20 years and decided to run in aid of The Mental Health Foundation after personal experiences made him realise the importance of seeking help; to break down the social stigma associated with mental illnesses and to place the same level of importance on your mental health as you do on your physical health.
He said: “Running has been a massive part of this for me; I trained this year to take part in my first half marathon in Shrewsbury and was really pleased to finish in 1 hour 43 minutes. I am determined to train hard over the next five months to achieve my ultimate goal and finish London in under 3 hours 30 minutes.
“Since I started my training schedule on 24 October 2016 – 18 weeks ago – I’ve ran for 63 hours and covered 480 miles. I am already on my second pair of trainers, but with eight weeks still to go I hope to run another 40 hours and cover a further 320 miles before the big day.”
If you would like to sponsor Phil, you can do so on his dedicated web page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/philipfewtrell