A SISTER and brother who adore splashing around in the sea are running and cycling 100 kilometres in ten days to raise thousands of pounds for an ocean-therapy charity.
Seven-year-old Milleigh Milner and her brother Max (4) know how lucky they are to swim and surf regularly, so when they noticed some of their friends were unable to access the water so easily they asked their mother and father if there was anything they could do to help.
By the end of breakfast they had hatched a plan to complete an ambitious ten-day challenge, running and cycling 10k a day to help raise enough money for more equipment at the Healing Waves centre at Le Braye, which helps disabled Islanders access the ocean.
The siblings from St John are now nicknamed ‘Team M and M’ on social media, and have already surpassed their initial target of £500. By yesterday afternoon they had raised £3,300 on their Just Giving page.
Their mother Holly Milner said: ‘It’s a big family effort. We’re very fortunate as they’re both very able and active, so it’s wonderful for them to connect with a local charity which helps children they know.
‘They adore being in the water and both enjoy surfing, so when my daughter Milleigh saw Healing Waves helping children to enter the water too, she was really impressed and wanted to help.’
Now the challenge sees the whole family out on their bikes at 7.30am each day then running outside in the afternoon to help raise some of the £3,500 needed for a sensory swing in the area outside the Healing Waves base.
Max Wiltshire, co-founder of the charity, said: ‘We’re blown away. They’re both absolute superstars.
‘It’s a testament to our younger generation in Jersey who want to include everyone and want to help – it’s a beautiful thing to see this happening.’
He added the charity had been set up in 2017 as a passion project by himself and two friends, Dom Booth and Sean Burke, to help share their love of surfing and paddle-boarding.
‘We wanted to make sure there were no barriers to anyone with any disability who wanted to surf or to paddle-board.
‘We started out with 20 athletes but now have 300 people who enjoy it regularly and 55 volunteers.
‘It is super-empowering for them and each new athlete brings a new story about why they enjoy it so much when some thought they might never be able to go in the sea,’ he said.
The charity’s new centre at Le Braye opened a fortnight ago and provides a comfortable place for the athletes to change.
They now hope to raise enough money to equip it with an attractive outside space complete with sensory swing in the near future.
Milleigh and Max’s father, James, said the whole family had been enjoying Team M and M’s challenge.
He said: ‘They both love the outdoors and they’re really active kids. We didn’t know if the target of 100k in ten days was too ambitious, but by splitting it between running and cycling we hoped they would be able to hit their numbers.
‘So far they’ve been amazing – we make sure to share the messages of support and it really motivates them.’
Milleigh and Max hope to far exceed their goal when the challenge ends on Monday, just in time for them to recover before returning to school.
