Charity is just the ticket for Horbury bus driving instructor who is pounding the streets of London in aid of Wakefield Hospice

Graham Auty will head to the capital to run in his first ever marathon in April in a bid to give a boost to Wakefield Hospice.

The 40-year-old began running almost three years ago when he was furloughed from his job as a bus driving instructor for Arriva Yorkshire at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The busy parent, who is back training the next generation of bus drivers, took part in his first 10K race for Wakefield Hospice last year and he aims to raise £500 this year for the charity who looked after some of his family members at the end of their lives.

Graham, of Horbury, said: “This will be my first marathon. I ran in the Wakefield Hospice 10K last year and now I’ve sorted of caught the bug for racing.

"I’m running in the marathon to raise money for the hospice because the charity has taken care of some of my family members and I just wanted to give something back to help other families who are going through a hard time.

"I started running during lockdown when I got furloughed from my job, I wanted to keep fit and be active, but everything was shut so that is when I began.”

Wakefield Hospice relies on donations to provide the highest quality of palliative care, free of charge to patients and their family in the district.

To donate to Graham’s online fundraiser, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/graham-auty?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=graham-auty&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=e424a47fde8a40d1b1dd670aaa1fc174&fbclid=IwAR2Ya2rMMKeWwnZ7Xv4R1yY6CF8B-3Xv3JIZpMKgDhCSeTVpdtx6wk1Nt0M.