3
In February 2006, when I turned 50, Michael bought my first pair of running shoes as a birthday present. Having sat on
my bum for the first 50 years, I started off by running 400m and then walking 100m for a few laps of a local track. In the
autumn, Team Shirley Dunleavy, as a group of 8, did the first of its 10 Great North Runs. We did this event because its
iconic status in the North East made it the obvious choice. Ironically, we have to run past the turnoff for St. Clare’s and
the crematorium where Shirley was cremated. Clearly, the first few events were painful for us, but time is a great healer
and nowadays, we just enjoy the experience, and the shouts of ‘Howay, Team Shirley’.
Since that humble beginning, we have refined
our fundraising techniques: we now walk with
buckets and backpacks, we walk through every
pub en route and beg! In our first year, we raised
about £5,000, and last year, with the help of an
anonymous benefactor, as well as the generous
Geordie spectators, we raised £10,000. Including
a couple of other cycling events and a couple of
cocktail parties, we have now raised about £70,000,
largely for St Clare’s. Yes, with the passage of time,
it gets harder to tap your friends and acquaintances
up for money, but we always come back to the
same rationale: the ‘visitors’ to St. Clare’s do not
get to negotiate; and nor, we are sure, do the
management team trying to raise cash, often pound
by pound, to support hundreds of unfortunate folks
like Shirley. Obviously, some people do not respond
to our requests, or drop out, but new donors come
along and we always get close to our targets. In
fact, only a couple of years ago, another close friend
(who did not make it) told us to stop being so coy
and just get on and ask for support. In his memory,
that’s what we do.
Our team has evolved over the years, but always has the same core: Michael, Sophie and me; the Knowles family, Shirley
and Michael’s dearest friends; and for 9 years, Dan’s partner Marcia Persaud and our Mam, Louisa Dunleavy who until
last year ‘put the bait on’, before Michael’s partner Christine stepped in with her magic pinny...
How does this story make us feel? Certainly not cocky. Michael and Sophie were cursed with the loss of Shirley in her
prime. The sight of this woman in her prime wasting away was a horror, but what we have achieved is to give Shirley life
after death, and say ‘Thank You‘ on her behalf. We really were reduced to tears when we did the London Marathon in
2008 and heard Cockneys rather than Geordies shouting ‘Team Shirley’, albeit without the ‘Howay’. Cancer is a deadly
serious business and though we too take our cause seriously, we also thoroughly enjoy what we do.
Most of us are now 40 and 50 some-things, our kids are now 20 some-things and the ‘Mammy of them all’, Louisa, is
now 86; but as our fiddles get older, we still seem to crank out a decent tune! We had agreed to call it a day last year, but
having just done a ‘personal best’ at £10,000, we must be getting something right, sooooo..... “See you at Great North
Run 2016!”
Speaking on behalf of St. Clare’s Hospice, Marie Campbell, Fundraising Manager said: “Having worked at St. Clare’s
since 2004, I remember when we cared for Shirley and the first time her devoted family ran the Great North Run in her
memory. Their dedication to Shirley still lives on and the support they give to St. Clare’s each year is amazing. Without
people like the Dunleavy’s and their friends, we wouldn’t be able to provide care to people when they need it most”.
If the story of Team Shirley has inspired you to do the Great North Run or to raise funds for
St. Clare’s in another way, then we would love to hear from you. You can get in touch by calling
0191 529 7111 or emailing
. Details of our forthcoming events
are on our website
Members of Team Shirley 2015
Sophie Dunleavy, Michal Dunleavy, Louisa Dunleavy,
Dan Dunleavy and Jessica Dunleavy
