A little girl with a heart of gold has won the backing of Sir Mo Farah himself - by running 1,000 miles for Save The Children.
Sienna Bowen's extraordinary effort has taken her two years with daily jogs around her home in Morpeth and on the beaches of Northumberland.
She was just nine years old when she told her mum Salwa that she was determined to raise £5,000 to help the child victims of war. She had seen her mum close to tears as she watched a news report on families in Syria and the Yemen who were left homeless.
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Sir Mo, four-time Olympic champion and long-standing ambassador for the children’s charity, is backing Sienna, who is now 11.
He posted an image of Sienna on his Instagram page with a message of support. He told his 1.1m followers: "The money she’s raised will help children in conflict stay healthy, safe and keep learning."
Sienna was so excited that Sir Mo had given his backing she asked her mum: 'Why little me?'
She set out on her first jog in March 2021. She has been running at least a mile a day after school ever since.
In a heart-rending video, she tells her supporters: "Will you help me please. I had a little ache in my heart when I heard about the children of Yemen and Syria who go days without eating. These children live in the rubbles of what was once their homes.
"With the help of my brother and sister I am going to run 1,000 miles to raise £5,000 to help make the stars shine brighter for these children.
"What little I have, I want to share." Big brother Ben, now 13, helped her when she recovered from Covid. Her friends, sister Tamara, 15, Salwa, 49, a sports physio, and aviation engineer dad Rob, 56, have also run with her for her epic journey.
She completed the 1,000th mile in Morpeth's Carlisle Park today (Saturday). "I am really glad and really proud of myself," she said. "It has taken a long time, but when I did 100 miles we would have lovely runs on the beach.
"Bamburgh was my favourite. I wanted to help children with no food, water or natural supplies." An ice cream covered with mixed sherbet was her reward for crossing the finishing line.
Salwa, who had shin splints after running hundreds of miles with Sienna, said: “When she saw me tearing up, she knew that I felt their pain, because we'd been talking about mummy’s experience growing up.
"She ran straight up to her bedroom and came down with all £30.25 from her moneybox and asked me to send the money away to help save those children. Next day, she came with her trainers in hand.
"She announced that she'd spoken to Ben and Tamara and they were going to help her run 1000 miles to help save the children of war. I told her that was a very long way to go. But she’s been running ever since."
Sienna, who experienced war in the Middle East as a child, and Salwa have set up a fundraising page ‘My Little Heart to Yours’ - a nod to the heart gesture Sienna makes when talking about the run.
They hope children around the world will join in - whether by running, walking, swimming, cycling or hiking - in a bid to tally up 24,900 miles in total, representing the Earth’s circumference.
One boy from Sienna's school is doing a 1000-mile cycle challenge, and friends from New Zealand and the US are joining in.
"It's a long way for a little girl to run," added Salwa. "But Sienna truly believes the magic of kindness can change a child's world - and that's what's kept her going."
Sienna is close to her £5,000 target, and is looking to raise around £700 to meet her goal. Visit this link to donate.
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