Banbury father to run tenth 10k in memory of his son, Finnley Froude

Luke Froude is set to run his tenth 10k this weekend in memory of his son, Finnley Froude, who would've turned 10 this year. Luke is raising money for the charity, SSNAP, based at the John Radcliffe.

Luke Froude and his wife, Gemma, have raised money in memory of their son, Finnley Foude, every year for the last decade.

They have raised £89,901 in his name, which will go to the Support for Sick Newborns And their Parents (SSNAP) charity. The SSNAP charity provides support for sick and premature babies at the John Radcliffe Hospital the area across the Thames Valley.

Gemma said: "Finnley was born at 28 weeks (12 weeks prematurely) in Jan 2010. Since then we were the organisers of Finnley’s day, which was an annual event in Banbury Town Hall.

Luke Froude, his son, Henry aged 3, and Kelly Hewitt. Finnley and Henry's godmother.

"Finnley should have been 10 this year so Luke decided to do 10 10k runs to try and smash the £100k fundraising mark. We are close to that now."

Finnley tragically passed away at aged four months in 2010.

Luke Froude has the last of the 10k runs scheduled for this Saturday December 12 when he will run around Banbury.

A £3,000 target was set for the '10 x 10k’s for Finnleys 10th birthday' fundraising challenge, but they want to raise as much as possible to close in on the £100,000 mark.

Gemma added: "We never decided on an amount when Finnley died. We just wanted to help the hospital and SSNAP with funds, and it escalated from there. Once we got close to £85k we said it be nice to get to £100k. Luke’s company Bibby Financial services match some parts of the fundraising also."

Anyone who would like to contribute to the '10 x 10k’s for Finnleys 10th birthday' fundraising challenge can use the following web link: https://www.sponsorme.co.uk/lukefroude/10-x-10ks-for-finnleys-10th-birthdayGemma added: "Luke and his friends have run a couple of organised runs, but since virus have had to do some, solo or social distanced. They have run rain and shine. They have run Draycote Water, a Daventry country park, Salcey Forest, London Olympic park, Newbury Race course and a few around Banbury.

Luke posted the following moving message on the fundraising web page: "29th January 2020 marks Finnley's 10th Birthday. A decade since our amazing little man entered the world. What a decade it has been.

"We have raised £89,901 in his memory. I wanted to mark his 10th year with something special, a challenge and something everyone can get involved in. I hope we can raise more funds, and hopefully edge us as close as possible to the £100k mark."