Cheers filled the Town Gardens over the weekend after a Swindon mum decided to do her own version of the London Marathon.

Sarah Moyles has tried five times to get a place on the 26-mile dash through the capital so that she can fundraise for Kidney Research UK.

After the latest unsuccessful attempt, the 56-year-old thought of a different way to complete the feat that would be closer to home – right on her doorstep, in fact.

The Quarry Road resident spent five hours doing laps of the Town Gardens on Sunday, with friends and family joining in for a mile or two as kind strangers cheered them on.

An Achilles injury 10 days earlier almost scuppered the challenge entirely but some urgent acupuncture helped ease the pain enough to allow Sarah to keep training.

The cause is close to her heart as she donated a kidney to her brother when he suffered kidney failure in 2021. She hopes that this exhausting effort in Old Town will raise awareness of the illness.

Sarah said: “Kidney disease is a killer and life on dialysis is miserable, it only just keeps you alive and it was really hard for my brother.

“Six people lose their lives every week while waiting for a kidney transplant. This statistic hit me hard and motivated me to take action.

“Along with the 7.2 million people in the UK who have it, an estimated one million people also have it but don’t know yet, so by the time they find out, they will need urgent care.

“My brother nearly didn’t make it. Our first kidney transplant operation got cancelled due to Covid and our second attempt was the last living transplant before the second lockdown happened.

“If that had been moved or cancelled too, he would be dead.

“He’s doing really well now, though. It’s much better to have a live familial donor, it adds roughly 20 years to your life rather than 10 from dead donors.

“It’s good to donate altruistically, you can manage well with just one kidney, the recovery is fine, and giving life to someone is a wonderful thing.”

Sarah has the kidney donor badge tattooed on her wrist above a list of motivational messages that kept her going during the long trek through the park.

To donate, visit https://justgiving.com/page/sarah-moyles-1710248750457

She added: “I live on Quarry Road, so the Town Gardens feels like my front garden and my community and I wanted to raise money in this beautiful place.

“I come here for a coffee every day, though I haven’t had any cake for seven weeks because I’ve been getting ready for this marathon.

“The café team has kept a big slice to one side for me after I cross the finish line - I’ve been dreaming about it!

“Everyone has been so kind and supportive - friends, family, neighbours, and random people have sponsored me. My son Sam travelled from Swansea to be here, all my family turned up, it’s lovely.

“People were shoving £5 notes into my hands while I was running around, and I’ve already tripled my fundraising target.”

Sarah would like to thank her acupuncturist Janice Booth for the urgent appointments, the Town Gardens Bowls Club for letting her use their facilities as a base during the marathon, The Hair Studio for dying her hair bright purple, and the Town Gardens Café team for their continued support.

She added: “I can look out my front door and windows at the blossoms and the sunshine, it's the best place in the world.”