North Yorkshire police sergeant running 5k every day for charity
Sergeant Paul Cording has worked closely with Road Safety Talks for several years
A police officer in North Yorkshire's running 5k every day this month to raise money for a local charity.
Roads Policing Sergeant Paul Cording picked Road Safety Talks based in Knaresborough as his chosen charity.
It was launched by campaigner Lauren Doherty after she was knocked down by a van after a night out in 2008 leaving her paralysed from the neck down. Since then, she's made it her mission to educate young people about the dangers of the roads and how to stay safe.
Sergeant Paul Cording works closely with Lauren Doherty, helping to deliver her talks across the Harrogate district.
He said:
"It has been challenging and there have been days when I've needed the motivation to get out there and but for me that motivation is the reason why I'm doing it and that's the raise money for Road Safety Talks and Lauren's charity.
"There's a lot of charities out there that are struggling at the moment so I put a call out for £250 but I think we smashed that in about three days. I checked it just a short time ago and we're now over £1,300 which is just phenomenal."
But it wouldn't be a challenge without hitting a few bumps in the road, as he's been in isolation for the last few days after catching covid.
Paul, added:
"I've not no blisters I'm really pleased to stay and it did start off really well up until last week when I caught covid which wasn't ideal but the local community have been fantastic and I have to give a shout out to exercise.co.uk who donated a treadmill for me to continue my challenge on. I'm out of isolation now so I've been out in the lovely Yorkshire countryside so we are back on track and just a couple more days to go until the end of the month."
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
Sgt Cording's challenge is part of RED January which was launched to encourage people to get out and about after the New Year.
Participants can walk, swim, cycle or choose their favourite fitness activity, set a goal and enjoy support from the RED community every step, splash and pedal of the way.