I am running monthly challenges in 2021 to fundraise for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
Running streak: A challenge for Every Day… amongst others
Why a running streak challenge?
Running itself is not a challenge for me, it is my absolute favourite leisure activity. Sometimes it has been the core component of my personal survival strategy. I do not mean physical survival, but mental survival.
Many of us in the global north live in a society where physical survival is easy. However, there is a daily onslaught on our mental and emotional health. There is too much information to deal with, too many contradicting rules, too many boxes to tick and too much noise for peace.
Running on the trails here on the Gower peninsula where I live gives me reprieve from the noise and the cognitive dissonance. It also nourishes me, helps me to focus and gives room to dig into my own power to shape my world.
However, will running become another chore if I do it every day without the option to rest? You can read more about my strategy for this challenge in my previous blog: Run every day streak: a challenge for May 2021.
Success! I did it!
It was tougher than expected. I found out why it is called a running challenge.
This is my first attempt at a shorts selfie. I thought the occasion of completing 31 days of running every day on a really warm Bank holiday Monday needed a small personal celebration.
The bigger challenge
My fundraising buddy, Lauren, very generously sponsored me £1 per day for our fundraiser for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. Both of us became aware of the violence of the UK border through our own experiences of the immigration system. Lauren writes recap of immigration news every month. You can find these on medium.
Let me give an example: Imagine you fall in love with a person who does not hold British Citizenship. You decide that you want to live in the UK. The challenge of gaining Settled Status or Indefinite Leave to Remain for your partner will take 5 years and thousands of pounds: £11 364 as a minimum. Calculated on cost per day it amounts to £6.23 per day for 1825 days and that is if everything goes smoothly.
Then add the labyrinthine bureaucracy, the proneness to errors (that the applicant is always blamed for!) and the culture of disbelief and you have yourself a proper challenge! You may end up running marathons or even ultra marathons as a result!
Let’s take it a step further: Imagine you met your partner at university and you both have student loans to pay off. Your parents have already given all they have to get you a university education. You are just starting out as youngsters and have to work long hours for low pay. Imagine you earn minimum wage or just above it. Then you fall pregnant.
Is it fair to place such a burden on families simply because they have different nationalities? What would your feelings be if it was you? What would your bank balance be if it was you? Let me say it again: £6.23 per day for 1825 days.
A systemic problem that wrecks lives
The system creates difficult and impossible situations. Families are separated. I am now part of a support and campaign group called Reunite Families UK. The Facebook feed breaks my heart and makes my blood boil on a daily basis. Children grow up with one parent on a screen because their British parent cannot meet the Minimum Income requirement. Their homepage keeps count of the days of separation for four couples. As I write they read 4382 days, 1946 days, 2191 days and 2573 days. That is 12 years, 5 years, 6 years and 7 years.
People become ill. People also become undocumented. Once this happens, their entire lives become criminalised. But who is in the wrong here? It is my opinion that the system is designed to achieve exactly this.
The government has created a hostile environment for people who do not have the ‘right papers’. You can read here what the hostile environment means for individuals and communities. They have also created a system that makes it very difficult and also impossible to keep on having the ‘right papers’. You can read more about that here.
Please help JCWI to challenge this system for positive change. Could you make a donation to support a legal charity fighting for justice and humanity in the UK immigration system? Could you share my blog and my fundraiser with friends, family and colleagues?
A bit more about the running
In comparison, the running streak was no challenge at all! I will continue to run and to raise funds. Most importantly, I will continue to raise awareness, because it will take all of us to achieve justice and humanity at the UK border.
My next challenge is to attempt completion of the Dragon’s Back Race in September 2021. It is a multi-day event of six consecutive ultramarathons. The distance of 380km between Castle Conwy in north Wales and Cardiff Castle in south Wales is covered along the mountainous ridge of Wales. The total elevation gain for the journey is 17 400m. I will spend June, July and August getting to know as much of the route as possible.
You can follow my running and fundraising journey by subscribing to my blog.
I leave you with a picture from each run I did this May. I am immensely grateful for my life and my health and the ability to run in such beautiful surroundings.
