Young animal lover raises £200 by running a mile a day for Thornberry Animal Sanctuary

Rubyanne Bailey, aged just 9 years old, was inspired by her sister's charity Santa Dash to hold her own fundraiser.

A great lover of animals, and the proud owner of guinea pigs, it was no surprise to her mum, Stacy Buxton, when Rubyanne chose Thornberry Animal Sanctuary, in North Anston, as her charity.

Rubyanne decided to run the length of a marathon (26 miles) throughout February, to raise much needed funds for the sanctuary.

Running more than one mile every single day, she was determined to reach her goal - she even ran laps around her garden when she caught Covid-19.

Rubyanne's final mile ended at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary, where she was greeted by grateful staff and their oldest resident, 19 year old Labrador, Sammy.

Ged Jenkins-Omar, fundraising manager at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary, comments: “Young people really are the future of animal charities like ours.

“It's incredibly important that the younger generation continue to believe in animal welfare and charitable giving.

“Rubyanne really has set a brilliant example and she should be so proud of her achievements - we know we are.

“We're currently raising funds for a variety of projects, but a strong focus is on expanding our vet room and ensuring that our equipment is of a high specification so we can continue to help as many local animals as possible.

“Every single penny of Rubyanne's donation will help us achieve this goal.”