A HEART-BROKEN family has raised more than £14,000 in memory of their daughter by completing a gruelling 10km run.
Charles and Lindsey Hall, along with son Cameron, finished the Leeds MoRun on Sunday, a challenge their daughter Sophie had planned on tackling for a mental health charity.
Sadly, the 19-year-old took her own life on June 26, just five weeks after her uncle Martin had also died by his own hand.
The Halls were joined for the emotional run by Sophie’s best friend Ellie Rutterford, as well as other friends and staff from the Rokeby Inn, on the A66, which the family runs.
Sophie’s dog Stanley Winston, which had been bought just two weeks before her death to help with her mental health, also finished the 10k.
Mrs Hall said: “At the start there are crowds of people so it lifts you along and you went with the momentum, but when you are on your own you are just thinking of why you are there and why you are doing it. You are thinking Sophie should be doing this, and you would have been so proud of her because she would have [finished it].”
Mr Hall added: “I know she would have and she wouldn’t be stiff like me either.
“When you saw the finish line, that’s when the emotion hit. It just got to us in the end.”
Sophie was best known for her desire to help others, particularly the homeless, so the family organised a stitching event at the inn where people made warm clothing items. These were delivered to a homeless charity in Leeds before the event.
Mrs Hall said: “We are changed people. We just want to help the way Sophie always wanted to help people, she thought of others before herself.”
In addition, the family visited the restaurant where their daughter had worked while she was studying at Leeds University.
Mr Hall said: “Behind the bar is a photograph of Sophie looking down on everyone, watching them work. That is how much people there thought of her. That part was emotional, that took the wind out of me.”
The next fundraising events the family is organising are two wreath-making sessions at the Inn on Thursday, December 7, and Saturday, December 9, where there will also be a raffle. Items to be won include, amongst others, hampers from Fortnum & Mason and Betty’s Tearoom, afternoon tea at Mainsgill Farm Shop and a spa day at Bannatyne’s Gym.
Mr Hall said: “Everyone has been so generous. Gifts just keep coming – this girl meant the world to so many people.”
Tickets are limited to 24 for each wreath making session and people who would like to attend can book by ringing the inn on 01833 627334.
All the cash raised by the family will be divided equally between the Young Minds and Men’s Mental Health charities.
People who would like to contribute to the fundraising appeal can visit gofundme. com/f/our-angel-sophie-10k-challenge.
