10 marathons in 10 days …. at 62!!!

To celebrate South London Refugee Association’s 30th anniversary Celestine Agbo, our Foodbank coordinator, will run an incredible 262 miles over 10 days – a full marathon each and every day starting on Saturday 4th September. 

At the tender age of 62, Celestine, who has completed the London Marathon 20 times, will pound the streets of South London in what will be his most audacious endeavour ever – aiming to raise much needed funds for the charity’s work with refugees.

Celestine knows the challenges faced by those who flee their home country more than most. As a child he spent years in the refugee camps of Biafra. Celestine’s novel, “Dragonflies and Matchsticks’ tells the story of his childhood experience and his mother’s desperate journey to save her children. Celestine has been running SLRA’s emergency foodbank throughout the Covid crisis and hopes that his gruelling run will raise money for SLRA to support refugees who are already in South London as well as those who will arrive in the coming months.

SLRA works with more than 1000 refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants each year – helping them to overcome past trauma and build safe lives. SLRA’s work will be needed more than ever in the coming months as people make dangerous journeys from Afghanistan to find safety in the UK.

Celestine says ” I’m calling this charity run ‘A Run of Gratitude’ because of what SLRA does for thousands of men, women and children who are helped to live healthy and peaceful lives in this wonderful city.”