Colleagues of 29-year-old mum, Kirsty Perkins, who died suddenly in her sleep in September 2021, have come together to mark what would have been her 31st birthday with a series of fundraising challenges to support research into Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), the condition from which she died.

#31forKirsty was launched by the communications agency where she worked, Brighouse-based Faith PR, to raise money for SADS UK, a cardiac charity which aims to save lives, provide information and fund medical research and equipment to prevent premature sudden cardiac death.

Faith’s team members will each take on a challenge based around the number 31 – including running 31km a week for four weeks, doing 31 squats a day for 31 days, and learning Spanish for 31 minutes a day for 31 days.

In 2021, the Faith team raised over £4,000 for Kirsty’s two-year-old son Casey through The Nick Smith Foundation which supports children who have faced the death of a parent at a young age.

Kirsty Perkins

Stefanie Hopkins, managing director and founder of Faith, said: “A year has now passed since we lost Kirsty, but it doesn’t get any easier.

“To mark the anniversary, we wanted to raise funds and awareness for SADS UK with the hope that we can stop others from dying before their time and help people to spot any early warning signs and take action.

“Kirsty was a much-loved part of our team and we miss her every day.”

The challenges are:

  1. Stefanie – run 31km a week for four weeks
  2. Tom – cycle 31 miles 
  3. Emily – do 31km a week on the exercise bike
  4. Gill – walk her dog Alfie for 31 miles across the month
  5. Nicola – 31k on a cross trainer
  6. Abigail – make 31 hair scrunchies in 31 days
  7. Nicole – 31 squats a day for 31 days
  8. Annace – a 31km walk 
  9. Rhianne – learning Spanish for 31mins a day for 31 days
  10. Georgina – walk/run 31km a week for 4 weeks and 31mins of stand up paddleboarding
  11. Beth – walk 31km throughout the month.

To donate and follow the challenges, please visit www.31forKirsty.co.uk.