A lasting legacy: £3000 donated to The Shrewsbury Ark

A 50km ultra-marathon run in memory of Mike Lindsey, who was known locally and died suddenly on 21 November 2017, has led to a very generous £3000 donation to The Shrewsbury Ark.

Last year Hungarian writer Eva Cserhati, who lives in Shrewsbury and was a friend of Mike’s, decided to run the South Wales ultra-marathon in his memory. Friends and family of Mike generously supported her fundraising endeavour and donations continued to pour in long after the event.

Eva chose to donate the proceeds to The Ark because she knew Mike was very distressed about the increasing number of people living on the streets in Shrewsbury. Mike was Deputy Director of Shropshire Social Services until he retired in 1996, and prior to this, he was Assistant Director of Wolverhampton Social Services.

Annette Young, Mike’s partner, says she is delighted Eva chose The Ark as a recipient of the money as its work was close to Mike’s heart. “Mike was always deeply committed to helping those who are disadvantaged and he made a particular contribution to services for people with mental health and substance misuse problems, to those who were homeless and to services for young people in trouble.”

Mike was Chair of the local Mind Group, and he made a considerable contribution to policy development at a local level, regionally and nationally. After retirement, he continued to work nationally as a member of independent review panels set up to look at the care and treatment of mentally disordered offenders.

Karen Higgins, Chair of The Ark says the donation will be a lasting legacy of a man who gave so much to help the vulnerable and disadvantaged.

“We are very grateful and honoured to have received this donation in memory of Mike,” she says. “This generous donation will go directly to enhancing the Ark's services which we very much hope we can do in 2019. Our aim is to make a positive difference to the lives of the most vulnerable people in Shropshire. Our sincere thanks go to Eva for running the ultra-marathon and to all those who generously got behind her.”