PAGEANT - "Education is the future"
Fundraising - Sponsored Challenges
Run a Marathon, Climb a mountain, Drive to Africa, Sail the Ocean
The money to fund Pageant's activities comes from a variety of sources. Some of it is raised by people taking on various challenges. People run marathons, half marathons and ultra-marathons - some in fancy dress! We had sponsorship raised with an ocean sailing race. We had many teams taking part in several Plymouth-Banjul Challenges, driving old vehicles all the way to The Gambia, where they are sold to raise money for local good causes. On this page we feature people and the challenges they have undertaken to raise money for Pageant.
If you are thinking of taking part in some exciting challenge, then please consider raising sponsorship for Pageant's projects, and it doesn't even have to be physically arduous like the examples listed on this page. We appreciate that fundraisers like to keep control of their publicity and have instant access to their latest totals for money raised, so Pageant has registered with a number of online donation services. Alternatively we can set up a donation page on your behalf. Find out more on our fundraisers page. We will also give you a page on our website, and publish news and photos as you train for and complete your challenge. Follow the links from the items above to see how we have done this for previous fundraisers.
Chris Hyde - Three Peaks Challenge 2004
Pageant member Chris Hyde and a group of his friends completed the Three Peaks Challenge 2004. They climbed the three highest peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafel Pike), and Wales (Snowdon), just outside the 24 hour target, and donated £1,125 from their sponsorship to Pageant.
Steve Pitman
Fleet Half Marathon 2006, 2007
Steve Pitman from ERA, ran in the 2006 Fleet Half Marathon, and raised £528 in sponsorship for Pageant. This was used to provide woodworking benches at St Augustine's Upper Basic School in Banjul and to improve the classrooms at King's Kid Academy. Steve ran the Fleet Half Marathon again in 2007, raising yet more sponsorship money for Pageant. This was used to provide 3 new desk units for Campama Lower Basic School.
Nigel Walsh - Comrades Ultra-Marathon (South Africa) 2008, 2009
Nigel Walsh ran the 2008 Comrades Marathon on 15 June 2008 in South Africa. This is actually an ultra-marathon of 56 miles, which attracts between 10,000 and 15,000 runners to a tough, steeply undulating route from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
His sponsorship raised £726.29 in aid of the Toilets and Textbooks project, which in turn helped Kings Kid Academy with teaching materials and building new toilets.
He ran the Comrades again on 24 May 2009, with the direction reversed, Pietermaritzburg to Durban. He raised £726.29 which again went to Kings Kid Academy. For further information, see Nigel's fundraising page.
To Africa in an old car!
What has driving an old car across Africa got to do with Pageant? Several teams in various Challenges ending at Banjul have raised sponsorship money for Pageant, or helped in other ways.
The Plymouth-Dakar Challenge was conceived in 2003 by Devon businessman Drew Heavey. For further information, see this website for the Plymouth-Banjul and other challenges. It went from strength to strength with over 200 cars in the 2006 and 2007 challenges. The Plymouth-Banjul route takes entrants from the UK (no need to actually start at Plymouth) through France and Spain, across to Morocco, and then closely follows the Atlantic coast all the way down to The Gambia. The total distance is about 3700 miles, taking the teams about three weeks. The Amsterdam-Dakar Challenge is a similar event. (website mainly in Dutch)
The Bamako Run was introduced in 2007 for teams who were unable to get into the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge. It followed the same route as the PBC to Mauritania, but then headed inland to Bamako, the capital of Mali. This was a new venture into unknown territory, so there was a preliminary expedition to reconnoitre the route, known as the T4 Challenge, and a team in this raised money for Pageant. Read more about the teams who helped Pageant on our 2006 Challenge page, our 2007 Challenge page and Shap Ahoy's T4 page
The 2008 Banjul/Bamako Challenge combined the two destinations. Five groups of competitors drove to Bamako and four groups to Banjul. Team Transplant Titans, in Group 9, left for Banjul on 11 January 2008. Hany Riad and Titus Augustine are transplant surgeons at Manchester Royal Infirmary, and as well as helping the Kings Kid Academy for Pageant, they raised funds for transplant research projects. Two other teams also helped Pageant. Ginger & Turk, in Group 9, drove a Range Rover from Yorkshire to Banjul. Mellow-Yellow, in Group 8, drove a Mercedes 280CE from Dublin to Banjul. At about the same time but not part of any official challenge, Tim Lovatt (ex Shap Ahoy) and three friends drove two Toyota Landcruisers to Timbuktu in the 4Ts Adventure. At the end, both cars were sold and the proceeds given to Pageant. See our 2008 Challenge page for more news and information on all of these teams.
The security situation in some of the countries traversed meant that these challenges were cancelled or re-routed, but the Banjul Challenge is now (2015) back in operation.
Bandit - Azores and Back 2007
Azores and Back Ocean Race - Mike Martin and Fraser Currie entered the 2007 AZAB race in the yacht Bandit, sailing from Falmouth to Ponta Delgada in the Azores and then back again. Their voyage is described on our Bandit AZAB page.
They named Pageant as their chosen charity, and their sponsorship of £412 provided 8 desk units for pupils at Campama Lower Basic School
Frankie & Rachel - Live on a Pound a Day
Frances Boswell and Rachel Page lived for just £1 a day for a working week during March 2012. This bought all of their food and drink, and they refused to accept any edible freebies! Rachel lived off value pasta with 17p curry sauce (complete with lumps!!!) and Frances survived on cheap bread with (furry) value jam!! They also ate baked beans, jacket potatoes, carrots, chopped tomatoes and eggs as special treats. They raised about £600 in sponsorship. This paid for paint, palettes, sponges, paint brushes, scissors, paper, tissue paper, feathers, glue, hoops, balls, bean bags, sacks, and much more, for use during their trip to The Gambia in April 2012, when they gave 'fun' classes to children in nursery schools. [more about Live on £1 a Day]
Sarah Hayes
Marine Corps 10k race (USA) 2009
Chester Marathon 2011
Sarah Hayes ran the Marine Corps 10km race in Washington DC on 25 October 2009. She raised £1535.00 in sponsorship, which she generously used to help Barra/Essau Upper Basic School on the North Bank in The Gambia.
In October 2011, she ran the Chester Marathon dressed as a beer bottle. This feat gained her a Guinness World Record for the 'Fastest Marathon Dressed as a Bottle (Female)'. She also raised a substantial amount of sponsorship which helped Pageant's work in The Gambia. For further information, see Sarah's fundraising page.
Gavin Sandison - New Forest Half Marathon 2012
Gavin Sandison ran the New Forest Half Marathon on 23rd September 2012, raising £785 for Pageant.
Pageant had an ongoing appeal for a new solar powered pump system for the Sheik Hatab Memorial Nursery School in Gunjur, which hadn't reached its target, so Gavin requested that we use his fundraising to make good the shortfall.
This left £395 which Gavin suggested should be used to kick start the appeal to re-bore the well at Bakalarr school.
See Gavin's web page for more details.
Team Dobie - London Triathlon 2012
Tim and Laurence Dobie competed in the London Triathlon on 23 September 2012. This involved a 1.5km swim in the docks, a 40km cycle ride and a 10km run.
As anticipated, Tim was ahead at the end of the swim, but Laurence caught up
with him towards the end of the second of the 2 cycle laps.
Laurence maintained his lead during the 4 running laps, but the two brothers
finished within ten minutes of each other:
Laurence in 2 hours 43 minutes - Tim in 2 hours 52 minutes.
Tim & Laurence raised over £900 for Pageant. See the Team Dobie web page for more details.
Frankie & friends - Richmond Spring Riverside Run 2014
On Saturday 22 March 2014, Frankie, Rachel, Ellie, Caroline, Georgina, Ruth, Alice and Charlotte ran the Richmond Spring Riverside Run on a 10km course along the Thames towpath between Richmond and Kingston.
The 'Pageant Runners' exceeded their sponsorship target of £2000, and used the money to buy all sorts of interesting items for their classes in The Gambia when they visited in April 2014.
For further details, look at this news page about their run, and also see this page of collected blog posts describing their trip to The Gambia.
Carol Peckham (Grace) - Half Marathons & Pantomime
Pageant member Carol Peckham (Grace) has her own Pageant projects in The Gambia. Her fundraising has included half marathons and a pantomime. She ran the Donington Park half marathon on Sunday 15 November 2015, with a time of just over two hours. She appeared in the the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust pantomime in 2017, and Pageant benefitted from a £500 share of the proceeds. She has now completed the 2017 Stafford half marathon, with the aim of raising a further £500 for her Pageant projects.
Carol's fundraising page will remain open as long as possible for further donations. So please show your appreciation of Carol's achievements with a donation. There is further information and a donation button on Carol's fundraising page.
Jo Conlon - Lisbon Marathon 2016 & Brighton Marathon 2017
Jo Conlon, a Sussex based artist and designer, planned to run the 2016 Brighton Marathon, but an injury caused a change of plans. Instead she competed in the 2016 Lisbon Marathon, and will running the 2017 Brighton Marathon. She is fundraising for Thyroid Cancer Support Group Wales and Pageant, so please sponsor her and help two charities. For information on how to sponsor her and news updates see Jo Conlon's page on this website.
Nick Taylor - 'Give to Gambia' project & Rome Marathon 2017
Nick Taylor has launched his 'Give to Gambia' project in partnership with Pageant to bring help to communities in the Soma area of The Gambia. As part of his fundraising, he will be running the Eastbourne and Hastings half marathons, and then the 2017 Rome Marathon. Find our more about his project and his fundraising on this Pageant page.