Eleanor is running the Leeds Half Marathon for charities!!!

Hi, I’m Eleanor! I’m running the Leeds Half Marathon on Sunday 11th May to raise money to split in half between two amazing causes. Personally, I've have had the privilege of visiting both and so have seen firsthand the incredible, life-changing work that these causes carry out to improve lives in their respective communities.

The first is for Sivananda Rehabilitation Home in Hyderabad, India. I was lucky enough to be hosted there for 4 weeks in May-June 2024 whilst I was collecting data for my master's dissertation, interviewing patients about their lived experiences of their bodies with leprosy and reconstructive surgery. Sivananda is a charitable hospital run by an incredible team, led by Dr Ananth Reddy. The 200-bed hospital provides care, free for all, for people in the state of Telangana and beyond who are affected by leprosy. This includes surgery, medication, physiotherapy, follow-up appointments and all meals and accommodation during a patient's stay there. A further 200 people live at Sivananda, who have been affected by leprosy and have chosen to build a life in the hospital complex. Sivananda also offers accommodation and all meals for free for these people, as well as job opportunities making bandages for the hospital and special shoes for patients who need them. Each person who works at Sivananda Rehabilitation Hospital is amazingly generous and kind, and the care provided there is truly inspiring and life-changing for patients.

The second cause is the Mityana Projects Trust, led by Reverend Dodie Marsden who has dedicated decades to fostering a special connection and partnership between schools and churches in North-West Hampshire with the district of Mityana, Uganda. I visited Mityana with Dodie and fellow students from my secondary school for 2 weeks in February 2016; both the primary and secondary schools that I attended have link schools in Mityana. Dodie works so hard to raise money for schools, churches and sustainable development in the Mityana community, as well as taking all manner of clothes, phones and school supplies over to Uganda personally. Both communities benefit from this international friendship. It is wonderful to see first-hand the change that people here in the UK have directly affected in a community so far away and different from the one I grew up in. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my page.