Petworth woman to complete 310,000 steps in October in aid of baby loss charity Sands

Hannah Jones is raising money for Sands, a charity close to her heart after tragically losing six babies due to an illness called Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).

She eventually got treatment for the condition and now has ‘four wonderful children’ but continues to live with the pain of her loss.

The experience has motivated her to raise money to help support parents dealing with the same thing, so ‘in a moment of pure madness’ she signed up to take on the challenge of completing an average of 10,000 steps a day throughout October.

Self-described as someone ‘who literally hates walking or the great outdoors’, Hannah has not found the challenge easy but said she is determined to complete it.

She has been ticking off most of her steps walking around Petworth Park, donned with flashing pink headphones to combat boredom and a can of Redbull in hand.

The self-employed web designer works from home and can spend up to 12 hours a day at her desk, making her sudden effort to rack up the steps ‘quite a shock to the system’.

Hannah surpassed her original target of £1,000 just four days into the challenge and has now set her sights on raising £3,100 by the end of the month.

She said: “I hope the money will help the charity get more staff and more equipment, and just expand to help more people.”

She said the donations and words of encouragement that she has received has been ‘incredible’, with friends, family and strangers who have gone through the same thing making donations and getting in touch to share their own moving stories.

Hannah is sharing updates of her progress on Facebook where you can show your support by making a donation.

Sands is a UK charity that works across the country to support anyone affected by the death of a baby, improve the care bereaved parents receive and reduce the number of babies who do die by funding research. For more information, visit: www.sands.org.uk/.