AN Angle woman, who vowed to complete 1,000 active miles, both to keep fit and to raise funds for a local charity, has already topped her £1,000 goal.

Joanne Lutwyche, who has previously taken part in local fundraisers, including organising the annual Angle New Year’s Day swim, is donating £1 for every mile she undertakes.

As of October 1, Joanne was just 104 miles short of her 1,000-mile total, and expects to comfortably top the ‘grand’ mark by the end of 2018.

Joanne said: “During 2017 I decided I wanted to take a bit of control in my life and I decided to join Slimming World, attending the class in Johnston, whose leader it Mitzy. I was also toying with the idea of trying to start running/jogging.

“I completed the Cardiff half marathon last October and realised just how unfit and overweight I was, this gave me the incentive to get myself sorted.

“I knew that to help me lose weight I needed to do some exercise, and I came up with a crazy idea of trying to complete 1,000 active miles during 2018.

“I decided as an added incentive I would donate £1 per mile to The Paul Sartori Foundation, in memory of my mother who we lost five years ago. I didn’t really tell anyone at first as I wasn’t sure I would stick to it but during January and February as I managed to complete a few miles I got more addicted to running, and I started to tell people about what I was doing.

“I entered a few races, 10kms mainly, and then I decided to do the half marathon part of the Long Course Weekend, which I completed and felt absolutely fantastic.

“During this time I have received amazing support from my family and friends plus my wonderful slimming world class members. They donated all their change and 5ps and after my final race of the season, a half marathon in Bristol, they presented me with £130 they had raised. Which I am extremely touched by. They have always been very interested in my running.

“The one thing that I have found with running/jogging is how good it makes me feel and when I complete a race or even a goal I have sent myself is indescribable and if it could be bottled it would help to make anyone feel so much better. I would recommend anyone starting some sort of exercise, whether it is walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or bowls, just get out there and do something.

“I thought I would raise £1,000 this year for The Paul Sartori Foundation, but with everyone who has donated and sponsored me and the extra miles that I have and will complete by the end of the year the total is going to be more in the region of £1,500.”

To donate, see justgiving.com/fundraising/joannes1000milechallenge

You can follow Joanne’s exploits on Facebook at Joanne’s 1000 mile challenge 2018