An incredible endurance runner has raised over £27,000 for a Merseyside charity by running to 37 different Merseyrail railway stations in a single day.

Alex Rigby from Bootle took up the challenge in February of running to every station on Merseyrail’s Northern line and ended up running 56 miles in just 11 hours.

Through his efforts, Alex raised £27,004.29 for Centre 56, a charity providing specialist nursery care for children aged from 2 to 12 who have experienced domestic abuse or crises.

His achievements culminated in Alex being named Sefton’s Charity Champion of the Year at the 2024 Pride Of Sefton Awards.

Merseyrail chose Centre 56 to be one of its Charities of the Year, and will continue to work with the charity through staff fundraising and volunteering initiatives.

As well as Centre 56, Merseyrail also works with: Rescue Me Animal Sanctuary in Liverpool which specialises in disabled small animals; Blackburne House, which supports the development of local and often vulnerable women in Liverpool; and Parkinson’s Wirral, which supports people in the Wirral with Parkinson’s.

Alex started his challenge at Hunts Cross station, then ran through south Liverpool, Liverpool city centre, Sefton, Southport, Ormskirk, Maghull, Kirkby, and Walton, before ending his run at Kirkdale.

Alex was not a lone runner, as during his run he was joined by friends, colleagues, and supporters, and representatives from local businesses who ran in relays to complete the run.

Mark Scott, a Merseyrail Senior Train Driver, also took part in the run.

I wanted to do a challenge that was unique. I was getting the train one day and started wondering how long it would take to run to all the stations.

I’m delighted that along the way we’ve been able to build this relationship with Merseyrail, who have been a fantastic support.

Alex Rigby

We’re all delighted that Alex has received this recognition from the Pride of Sefton Awards. He has done amazingly well to raise so much money this year already, and Merseyrail has been proud to be able to support all the efforts by the team at Centre 56.

Working with communities across the Merseyrail network is an important part of what we do. Merseyrail has a unique position within the region to be able to reach out and help organisations and charities that make a real difference.

Sally Ralston BEM, Community Involvement Manager at Merseyrail