The athletic endeavours of a long-serving employee at Kingdom Housing Association have raised thousands of pounds for good causes.
Greg Morris has undertaken no less than four marathons and endured the small matter of cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, Diabetes UK, RNIB and Guide Dogs for the Blind.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, Greg has also completed the gruelling National Three Peaks Challenge by climbing the three highest peaks in England (Scafell Pike, 978m), Wales (Snowdon, 1085m) and Scotland (Ben Nevis, 1344m).
Greg, who lives in Glenrothes and has worked at Kingdom for over ten years, is modest about his fundraising efforts and preferred to concentrate on the personal achievement of completing the challenges.
He said: “I think I have raised over £5,000 in total since I started but it is probably much more than that I just haven’t kept a record.
“Since 2005 I’ve ran the marathon three times in London and once in Edinburgh. It’s something I particularly enjoy because it gives me the opportunity to challenge myself and improve on my previous best times. I could have completed even more because I apply for the London marathon every year but it has become really difficult to get approved.”
Asked how he likes to keep fit in his spare time, Greg said: “I like to play football as well as cricket but I got injured while playing football so have been recently concentrating on running.”
As a small repairs officer, with Kingdom Housing Association, Greg completes small repairs tasks in the private homes of older people around Fife which is part of Kingdom’s Care and Repair Service.
Greg revealed that his father-in-law John is usually the inspiration and companion for the fundraising feats. He added: “The driving force behind it all is really my father-in-law. He usually calls me up saying ‘What about this idea?’ and ‘I’ve been looking into doing this’.
“It took us around two weeks to complete the cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats as we had to carry everything ourselves but it was enjoyable because there was no real deadline and I had good company also.”
In the future Greg plans to continue fundraising with another marathon on the horizon and perhaps seek out new challenges too.
He said: “I plan to run Edinburgh marathon in May next year and after that who knows? It is becoming difficult to keep it original but I’m sure my father-in-law will have something up his sleeve.”
Bill Banks, chief executive with Kingdom Housing Association, said: “Greg should be congratulated on the tremendous amount of funds he has raised over the years, for a variety of good causes. His attitude to his charitable events is reflected in his approach to his work.
We are all very proud of him at Kingdom and wish him continued success with future fundraising events.”
