'˜Tweetathon' success for Chesterfield nurse

Joan Pons Laplana, a telehealth clinical lead working across Derbyshire, dubbed his marathon a ‘Tweetathon’ as he used Twitter to tweet messages and facts every mile about the charity he was running for – Cavell Nurses’ Trust.

Cavell Nurses’ Trust gives money and support to nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and students experiencing financial or personal hardship, often because of illness, domestic abuse, disability, working poverty and older age.

Originally from Barcelona, Joan has raised an impressive £3,780 through his JustGiving page, and encouraged companies to sponsor each mile that he ran.

He’s delighted with the response he’s had.

He said: “It’s been incredible, people are so generous. I have a lot of followers on Twitter so it made sense that I include social media in my marathon challenge.

“I was keen to make as much noise as possible for Cavell Nurses’ Trust.”

And with more than 18,000 followers on Twitter he certainly did, sending out tweets all the way through the six hours it took Joan to complete the 26 miles.

So why is Joan so committed to help his fellow nurses? A few years ago after his marriage ended Joan was struggling to juggle his finances, having to pay for extra rent on his new accommodation.

He added: “I know how stressful it is to have to choose between paying the electricity bill, or buying food today. Then you get a letter from the landlord to say rent is due, it’s very easy to get into debt problems.”

Despite working overtime to try and cope, Joan’s situation didn’t improve. So he turned to a charitable organisation set up to help nurses, like Cavell Nurses’ Trust, called the RCN Foundation. They helped pay his rent arrears and got him back on his feet and he was so grateful.

He added: “I said one day that I would give back to a charity that helped nurses, so I have chosen Cavell Nurses’ Trust.”

Joan is still collecting sponsorship on his JustGiving page here https://www.justgiving.com/tweetathon. For more information about Cavell Nurses’ Trust visit www.cavellnursestrust.org