Above: Technician Cat and partner Sam
24 May 2018
The London Orthotic Consultancy are excited to announce that one of our orthotic technicians, Cat, will soon be flying off to West Africa after signed up to run the Sierra Leone Marathon with her partner Sam. Cat joined the LOC Manufacturing team last year and has been a fantastic addition to our Kingston clinic. From running her own jewellery business to teaching English on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, this next challenge is adding yet another feat to her growing list of achievements.
Photo courtesy of Street Child Sierra Leone Marathon
The 26-mile race will take place on the 27th May 2018 and is a unique event run by the charity Street Child, with locals and expats excited to take part. The race will be challenging but rewarding, with the route snaking through some of the most beautiful countrysides in Northern Sierra Leone. Winding through tropical forests and local villages, this epic challenge poses the additional hurdle of tackling 30°C heat and 90% humidity.
Cat and Sam are raising money to support the excellent work carried out by the charity Street Child. Sierra Leone has often been tarnished by its history of political turmoil; the eleven-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War and more recently the devastating Ebola outbreak in 2014. Sustained poor healthcare and infrastructure meant that Sierra Leone’s life expectancy in 1995 was just 35 years. Today, it only sits at 51 years, a meagre figure even compared to other countries in the region.
Photo courtesy of Street Child
The marathon is not your average running event, but a chance to bring awareness to the charity's projects in urban and rural areas of the country. Since Street Child launched their efforts in Sierra Leone in 2008, they have focused on protecting and educating vulnerable children; building over 124 schools and renovating a further 152. They have supported over 12,000 families to setup their own businesses, allowing more than 20,000 young girls and boys to attend school.
Above: Sam and Cat during their UK training
They work with remote rural communities, building schools, training teachers and ensuring that children have the chance to go to school where previously there was none. Their urban projects involve getting children off the streets and back with their families, greatly improving the chance of having a stable home life and therefore staying in education.
LOC has proudly sponsored Cat and Sam, supporting a worthwhile charity that will have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of children, their families and the wider community.
Photos courtesy of Street Child
Photos courtesy of Street Child
We have the following facilities and amenities at our Kingston Upon Thames location:
We also have the Gait Laboratory for orthotics patients and Onsite Manufacturing for speedy turnarounds and adjustments whilst you wait.
We have the following facilities and amenities at our Cambridge location:
We have the following facilities and amenities at our Bristol location:
For more information, visit Litfield House Medical Centre.
LOC’s clinic is based in the University of Salford’s Podiatry Department and provides treatments for orthotics, scoliosis, pectus deformities, positional plagiocephaly and club foot.
It is also the base for LOC’s northern OSKAR clinic which is run by Sam Walmsley, clinical director of LOC, in conjunction with Elaine Owen MBE MSc SRP MCSP.
Due to COVID-19, we have had to temporarily close the Salford clinic and are operating out of another clinic in Bolton.
508 Blackburn Rd,
Astley Bridge,
Bolton
BL1 8NW
For more information, please visit The Good Health Centre
So far they have both raised close to £1700, if you too would also like to sponsor, please click on the following link to give to Sam and Cat’s Just Giving page. Any kind donation will provide vulnerable children with a good education and create a much brighter future – also, it might just give Sam and Cat the last push they need to get over the finish line!
