SKI SEASONAIRES COMPLETE QUARANTINE MARATHON FOR CHARITY
23rd April 2020 | Jane Peel, Chief Reporter
Last modified on May 8th, 2021
Two British ski seasonaires who caught coronavirus while working in Italy have completed marathons while in quarantine in their small apartments to raise money for charity.
Government coronavirus advice
The couple, Ash Tilbury and Angie Kirwin, were both working as area managers for Crystal Ski and were based in different ski resorts in northern Italy when the virus struck.
They decided to complete their ‘quarantine marathons’ to raise money for Crisis, the UK’s national homelessness charity.
Ash, who is from Aylesbury, was the first British person to be diagnosed with the virus in Italy after showing symptoms.
He was working in Cervinia at the time and is still in quarantine there.
Angie, from Manchester, is in Sauze d’Oulx.
She believes she picked up Covid-19 while visiting Ash in Cervinia where most of his fellow seasonaires also went down with the virus.
The pair, who have been together for eight months, were looking after 2,000 holidaymakers when the coronavirus crisis hit northern Italy – the first alpine country to be affected.
Although other staff were able to return to the UK, they have both been in quarantine for six weeks, with another three to go.
They hope they will then be free to see each other again.
Angie has done marathons before and walked the 26.2 miles along her 4 metre-balcony and around her tiny living room.
It was Ash’s first marathon but he was inspired to join Angie, despite still recovering from quite severe symptoms of the virus, and created a track around his lounge.
They both ran and walked the ‘Quarantine Marathon’ on the same day and have so far managed to raise more than £1,600 for the Crisis ‘In This Together’ homeless emergency fund.
The emergency fund is helping to provide vital services to those who are most exposed at this time, whether that’s through Crisis’ own direct services or collaboration with the wider homelessness sector.
The couple spoke to PlanetSKI from their alpine quarantine…
“I’m happy to help Crisis out however I can because I have seen the amazing work the charity does,” Angie said.
“We were determined to turn quite a challenging situation into something positive.
“Although we are miles apart and can’t see anyone, at least we have a roof over our heads and we know we can rely on friends and family if things get tough.
“Some people are not so lucky and we wanted to help people affected by homelessness in some way if we can.”
Ash added: “For my Christmas present last year, Angela reserved a place at Crisis for Christmas so that someone who lives on the streets could have a roof over their head, some company and something warm to eat.
“I thought that was such a lovely idea and wanted to carry on supporting the charity.
“I can’t imagine how it must feel to be without somewhere safe to live in this pandemic but wanted to do whatever I can to help out.”
Richard Lee, Director of Fundraising at Crisis, thanked the pair for their support.
“Having a safe place to live is an essential human need – and in times like these it couldn’t be more important.
“We are so grateful to Angela and Ashley for using their time in isolation to help people affected by homelessness.
“Although it is a difficult time for everybody, we are heartened by the generosity of people offering their time or wanting to contribute financially towards ensuring people affected by homelessness remain safe.”
For more information and to donate to the emergency homelessness fund, go to the In This Together page on the Crisis website.
