Runaway bride's 100km for South Shields food bank as wedding day is put on hold due to Covid-19 lockdown

Kirsty Winter, of Westoe Road, was due to say ‘I do’ to the love of her life and partner of eight years, 31-year-old Graeme Tiffin, next month.

But due to the coronavirus lockdown they have had to postpone their special day, along with many others whose hopes of getting hitched have been put on hold.

Instead of being run off her feet with last-minute wedding plans, the 30-year-old has been pounding the streets to raise much-needed money for a local food bank.

To help in the current circumstances, Kirsty, a pharmacy technician, has run 100km (about 62miles) throughout May.

“I started to take up running since the gym has been closed, so I came up with the idea to set myself a goal,” she said.

“I never used to do any cardio before, so I have found it quite tough - I’ve been running two or three miles every other day and challenging myself to go a bit further on weekends.”

But Kirsty - who has also had to put moving in with her husband-to-be on hold due to the pandemic - says it’s given her something to focus on as the couple keep their fingers crossed it will be full steam ahead for their new wedding date in September.

She added: “Everything has come to a standstill but getting up before work and going out for a run has kept me focused and given me a purpose – I’ve actually enjoyed it.”

Setting herself an initial target of £250, as of Thursday, May 28 she has raised almost £1,000 for the Key 2 Life food bank, which is based on Boldon Lane, South Shields.

Last month the food bank issued an urgent appeal after seeing demand rocket to the highest levels in its 30-year history.

“I really wanted to help a local charity with everything that’s going on, she added.

“Any donation big or small will make a huge difference to them.”

Donate via Kirsty’s Just Giving page

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.

How to subscribe to the print edition:

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of.

Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.