New West Devon resident Genevieve George, commonly known as Gigi, is making a plea for support from local people in her challenge to run as part of the CHICKS team in the Plymouth Half Marathon on Sunday, May 27. Gigi, 18,moved to Tavistock in March from New South Wales, Australia, to volunteer for local children's charity CHICKS. Gigi, along with a team of fully trained professional supervisors, and other volunteers, works alternate weeks giving fun-packed respite breaks to some of Britain's most disadvantaged children, who are referred to CHICKS for a break from their difficult home lives. But this wasn't enough of a challenge for the Aussie, who then decided she wanted to take part in the Plymouth Half Marathon and raise funds for CHICKS. 'Looking after the children is brilliant fun, and very hard work,' she said, 'It's only when you go on a camp you can see what a valuable difference CHICKS is making, and I wanted to do something more to help, so I thought what better than run around Plymouth for 13.1 miles!' The difficulty is, having only moved here last month Gigi does not yet know enough people in the area to raise the money she is aiming for. She said: 'I'm hoping that after this interview some of the people in the local area might be willing to sponsor me for the Half Marathon. 'I've set myself the target of raising £200 for CHICKS, and have my friends in Australia also raising money. Everybody has been so friendly since I arrived that I'm hoping they feel able to donate a few pounds to my fundraising and help disadvantaged children at the same time." If you would like to sponsor Gigi please contact CHICKS event fundraiser Nicola Bean on 01822 811108 or [email protected]">[email protected] to add your name to Gigi's sponsor form.
