Relay event to raise funds for the Norwich Lowriders Junior Wheelchair Basketball Team

The Kids 4 Kids Fun Sponsored 10 Mile Relay in Norwich next month is the brainchild of Tonya Knights, from Coltishall, who recently set up the charity Let's Do It Anyway Funding to help good causes in the local community.

Ms Knights, who has refused to let a lifetime of medical trauma get her down, said the charity is inspired by the amazing people she has met who have the attitude 'let's do it anyway' despite their medical problems.

The sponsored relay event at the University of East Anglia's athletics track is the charity's first big organised event.

Ms Knights said: 'My plan is that this Kids 4 Kids fun relay will be the first of an annual relay to give children the chance to help make a difference to help each other.

'I think it is important everyone is given the opportunity to do something they absolutely love and you can see from watching the Lowriders practice that the team really, really love what they are doing.

'They are the only physically disabled wheelchair basketball team in Norfolk and it would be great if we could raise �3,000 to pay for a special sporty wheelchair for one of the team.

'The chair will be fitted for one of their members, Rosie, and when she grows out of the wheelchair it will be given to another one of the members.'

Ms Knights said as well as raising money, the relay event is also about having lots of fun.

'It is not a race. It is a sponsored 10-mile fun relay,' she said.

'People can walk, hop, jog, and complete the relay any way they like. Some of the Lowriders are taking part in their wheelchairs.'

Let's Do It Anyway is currently also supporting the Norwich Social Centre for the Blind and the After Breast Cancer Group in Norwich, and it plans to help other good causes in the future.

Fundraisers being organised include a sky dive, Halloween masked ball, a Kilimanjaro climb and a Lapland husky trial.

• The relay event starts at 9am on Sunday, July 10 at the UEA athletics track. It costs �5 for children to register for the event. The registration fee needs to be paid by July 2. Parents can also take part and registration is free for them.

You can enter as a team or make up a team on the day, and each person do as little as 400 metres and as much as the full 10 miles.

For more information about the relay and other Let's Do It Anyway projects visit www.letsdoitanyway.com, email tonya@letsdoitanyway.com, or call 07564 641912.

• Are you raising funds for a good cause? Call reporter Emma Knights on 01603 772428 or email emma.knights@archant.co.uk