A determined fundraiser inspired by one of the young people educated and cared for at Prior’s Court has completed her marathon challenge.

Jools Montague ran the Virtual London Marathon on Sunday, 3 October, fundraising for Prior’s Court, after being inspired by her friends Matt and Suzanne (Zan) Robinson whose son Zac is a residential student at Prior’s Court.

Jools, pictured left, completed her 26.2 mile run around Buckinghamshire on Sunday in a time of 4 hours 50 mins

Through her efforts, Jools has raised £1,475 at the time of writing – comfortably eclipsing her £1,000 fundraising target.

On Friday, ahead of the challenge, the young people of Prior's Court featured in a "good luck" video for Jools with messages given using a variety of communication systems.

Jools, who is a co-director of a NLP company, said:

I was very nervous before starting the marathon and it took a few miles to calm myself down and get into a rhythm. Although it was the Virtual marathon, I was incredibly lucky to have my partner and children at certain points along the way to throw jellybeans and water at me! I hit the ‘wall’ a couple of times, and when I did, I remembered why I was doing it and smiled at the beautiful messages I had received from the young people at Priors Court.

The Prior's Court connection

Matt and Zan’s son Zac has autism, and due to the complexity of his condition, he requires specialist care. Zac, pictured with Matt below, has been a residential student at Prior’s Court School since 2019.

Jools has known Matt for six years and earlier this year she invited him on to her podcast to speak about his family’s experience of complex autism and their journey to Zac coming to Prior’s Court. On the podcast, Jools revealed to Matt that due to the power of his story, she would be running the Virtual London Marathon for Prior’s Court.

A huge thank you

Karen White, our Head of Fundraising, said:

On behalf of Prior’s Court, I would like to say a huge congratulations to Jools for completing the Virtual London Marathon. We are incredibly grateful to Jools for her efforts and her generosity in choosing to fundraise for Prior’s Court. My thanks also go to Matt for speaking so eloquently on the podcast about his family’s story and so introducing Jools to our work. As a charity, funds raised for us help us to fund transformational projects, pay for specialist equipment and activities and help ensure we can make a real difference to the lives of our young people and their families.

Donations can still be made at justgiving.com/fundraising/julia-montague

There are plenty of ways in which you can support Prior's Court through fundraising.