Consider: 

…the emotion and exhilaration you achieve by breaking boundaries you didn’t think you could. 

…the feeling of having a purpose that inspires you everyday

…the growth you achieve as a human being

…the pride you feel when you look back and tell stories to your grand kids about.

None of those come without a challenge. It is why I am so excited about today’s newsletter.

Before we get to all that though, I want to first say a massive thank you again for supporting One Cause. Without your help we aren’t able to do the fantastic work we do! So please do keep donating and supporting us where you can! Thank you!!

So back to the key topic at hand…challenging yourself grow!

On October 3^rd, we had 6 incredible people challenge themselves to run the London Marathon and with a purpose of raising money for One Cause. Not only did every runner complete this mammoth challenge – the total amount raised surpassed £20k! Incredible!!!

However, that was the result – hearing their stories and what they did to achieve this outcome is where the inspiration comes from. So, we are thankful that some of our runners took the time to share their stories with us:

Mehul Shah who on 7 occasions didn’t manage to get a place through the ballot, finally ran his first ever marathon at the age of 40 through One Cause. He was truly committed to challenging himself and achieving this outcome and stuck to a strong training plan which involved running 4 days a week. He was blown away by the support from the crowds and also other runners. Most importantly though he achieved his dream of finishing the London Marathon, which had been on his bucket list for some time. In addition, he raised nearly £7000 for One Cause. Have a listen to Mehul’s story and what it meant to him to cross that finish line and why running for a good cause really meant something to him

Neha Mehta also ran her first full marathon through One Cause. She got in touch with us just after completing a half marathon and signed herself up for the full thing. She had only 8 weeks for training and completed 3 runs a week and one long run over the weekend. Even in that short time, she achieved her dream and made a memory for a lifetime – “the actual marathon itself was just awesome. It was amazing – the crowds of London, the music blaring, people shouting and cheering me on was just mind-blowing! I was just so inspired to carry on and finish!”. Neha also advised to sign up and do it for a charity because “it makes you feel so good” – she raised £3k+ for One Cause. Check out her video below too. 

Finally, but not least, Richard Doel shared the honest truth of what it meant to him to complete the London Marathon and the difficulty of the task – “What an experience Sunday was!  The highs at the Cutty Sark, and the lows around Canary Wharf!  But the crowds were incredible and I achieved a real dream of mine by completing the London Marathon!”  

“It has been a pleasure to represent the One Cause, I felt proud to wear my One Cause T Shirt on Sunday and I hope the +£3k raised makes a huge difference to all those you support 🙂 Would I do it again, probably not.  But it’s an experience that will live with me for the rest of my life and one that has taught me so much more than running!”

The marathon is tough but is a true accomplishment which teaches you more than you ever know. 

They all raised money to help our schools…but the schools have been having their own challenges – still COVID

Last time we shared that in Uganda, Auro school had re-opened and classes ongoing but with precautions in places for COVID. However, at the time of writing this newsletter, the school has had to close again! 

We were in the process of implementing a number of initiatives at that point – however these have been put on temporary hold. We are looking again at how best we can support our teachers and students during these tough times. More updates on Uganda in our next newsletter.

For Nirvana School in Pondicherry, India- the good news is for year 9 and 10, classes in person began again on 1^st September whilst other online classes carry on. A refresher course was also run to transition everyone back into class. We hope soon we will see more students back into school. It also meant we can begin to get going on other projects we had in mind, albeit a bit slower than we would have liked. More to come next time on this.

Overall, due to the impact of COVID – there is no escaping that the learning in Uganda and India has been disrupted. It has also meant how we help has changed. We currently are doing our best to see how we can support education outside of school but also motivate students back into school when they can go and get them up to speed (as we shared in our last newsletter which you can read here)

We do hope, as things do get better, a number of the larger projects we had in place can also begin to resume again. But in the interim, this is a challenge we all aim to learn and grow from as schools and charities alike. 

That leads me to the final part – what gift of wisdom can you take from the above…

Well, I think the quote below says it all:

“If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never realize what you can become”

This quote holds true for not only our marathon runners but also our schools and us as a charity. So how can you bring this into your life? 

Well, here’s a great challenge – for the next 30 days, try one new thing every single day that you wouldn’t normally ever do. This can be really simple, like ordering a dish on a menu that you wouldn’t usually, all the way to something more challenging, like a bungee jump. The goal is to get you out of your comfort zone more often than you’ve been before but also take note of what you’ve learnt. 

This really does work – and trust me before you know it, you will be running the next London Marathon 😊. If you do take up the challenge above – let us know and keep us posted on all the great new things you have tried.

Well, that’s it for this time – thank you again for your support and hope you’ve enjoyed our doses of inspiration. Have a wonderful Christmas and new year – and we hope to be in touch in Q1 next year.