Charity man’s fundraising soars past £10,000 after TikTok post.
A fundraising runner whose son posted a TikTok video of him out training for the London Marathon, saw his charity total rise from £620 to more than £10,000 in 24 hours this week.
Darren Ryan is running the famous city marathon in April for Willen Hospice. The 56-year-old from Great Brickhill, is taking on his first-ever 26-mile run to support the Hospice, along with son Callum, 24, and both have been training since last summer.
Darren designed a T-shirt with a QR code for his fundraising page on the back, so he could wear it on runs around his village. But last Wednesday, another son Olly posted a video on TikTok of his dad out training and the donations started to roll in from around the world.
The video has had over a million views, and more than 1,400 people from countries including Australia, Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK have contributed and left messages of support. The unexpected wave of encouragement for a ‘TikTok Dad’ has helped Darren smash his original fundraising target of £2,500. The total currently stands at £14,200.
Among the messages of support are one which says: ‘From the Netherlands: go, go, go! You can do it!’, while another, from the USA, reads: ‘Go Darren! Cheering you on from New Jersey!’.
“The video was a surprise,” said Darren. “When I ran out of the house on that frosty morning, Olly filmed it from the window without me even knowing. So none of it was set up. It’s been a crazy few days, but I’m buzzing and it’s all for a good cause.
“Honestly, it's been very emotional seeing some of the comments on the donation page, and I'm trying my best – while doing my day job – to respond to every single one.
“I'm running the marathon for Willen Hospice, but now I'm running for everyone who’s donated too, and that's going to drive me.”
Currently, only 13.8% of Willen Hospice’s running costs are met by ongoing NHS funding, making it one of the most poorly funded hospices in the UK. It means the charity is reliant on the generosity of local supporters to help raise around £8.7 million each year.
Find out more about Darren’s challenge here: https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/darren-ryan.
More details about Willen Hospice are here: www.willen-hospice.org.uk.
