{"id":1041,"date":"2025-09-08T10:56:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2025-09-08T10:56:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:56:23","slug":"lydia-and-sophies-lourdes-running-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/lydia-and-sophies-lourdes-running-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Lydia and Sophie\u2019s Lourdes running challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Every year, millions of people travel to Lourdes on pilgrimage.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was 14, I volunteered to go on a school trip, without really knowing what I was signing up for \u2013 and it changed my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I travelled with the Diocese of Middlesbrough, who have been taking people on pilgrimage for 72 years. These include individuals with serious health conditions, people searching for peace and others who don\u2019t quite know why they\u2019ve come \u2013 but by the end of the week, find something truly special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since that first trip, I\u2019ve returned for 15 years and counting. I volunteer at our Lourdes hospital, caring for supported pilgrims who often wouldn\u2019t be able to travel without the dedicated help of our volunteers. We look after people with complex needs, from chronic illness to end-of-life care and everything in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s hard to put into words what Lourdes gives you. It\u2019s humbling to be let into someone\u2019s most vulnerable moments, to care for them and to share laughter, tears and faith along the way. I\u2019ve grown, been challenged and supported in ways I never expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m so grateful for the chance to volunteer each year. That\u2019s why I now want to give back and help others who perhaps can\u2019t afford to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Saturday October 18, my lovely friend Sophie and I will run 18 miles (30km) to raise money for other volunteers called to go.<br>If you know Lourdes, you\u2019ll know that\u2019s one mile for every time Mary appeared to Bernadette. If you don\u2019t, just know it\u2019s a really long way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re able to support us, you won\u2019t just be helping us run, you\u2019ll be helping someone experience the healing, love and peace Lourdes can bring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you so much for reading and for any support you can give. You\u2019ll be changing lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to find out more about what we do in Lourdes, please follow our new Instagram account, @middlesbroughtolourdes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lydia Coyle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every year, millions of people travel to Lourdes on pilgrimage.&nbsp; When I was 14, I volunteered to go on a school trip, without really knowing what I was signing up for \u2013 and it changed my life. I travelled with the Diocese of Middlesbrough, who have been taking people on pilgrimage for 72 years. These [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-social-and-fund-raising"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1043,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions\/1043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk\/lourdes\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}