Project Trust volunteer runs London’s Northern Line
Eighteen-year-old Ella Waldman has hit the road and run the 24 miles of the Northern Line to fundraise for her upcoming volunteering trip to the Dominican Republic.
On the 22nd November, along with a small team on bicycles to keep her speed up, Ella passed the 34 stops from North Barnet to Morden, via Charing Cross. Despite representing Hertfordshire and Middlesex in national cross-country competitions and English schools athletics tournaments, she admits it was a much tougher run than she’s used to: ‘I haven’t run nearly that far before, so needless to say I took my Oyster card along to get my stiff legs home at the end. Surprisingly I actually quite enjoyed it and despite all the waiting at traffic lights it took about three hours, which isn’t bad for a 3k runner! It has also helped to raise lots of funds, which is the important thing.’
From January 2010, Ella will be living for eight months in the city of Santiago volunteering for an independent foundation which aims to get orphans into education to better their future prospects of employment. She said: ‘It looks like it's going to be a challenging but amazing experience and I'll be able to use my broad range of interests, including English, Spanish, sports, music and drama to ensure that I provide the most stimulating and supportive teaching environment I can, and also my TEFL and social care training to improve the children's social skills and spoken English.’
