Events through the month will end with a Clifton Park run

A month-long fundraising bid is well under way in memory of Owen Jenkinson.

Millers fan Owen passed away in November last year aged 17 after a long battle with cancer.

The Millers supporters club flag for Owen Jenkinson was unfurled during the Fleetwood match. He is pictured inset at his Whiston home with his parents Andrea and Bill | 3rd party

placeholder image — The Millers supporters club flag for Owen Jenkinson was unfurled during the Fleetwood match. He is pictured inset at his Whiston home with his parents Andrea and Bill | 3rd party

But his family is spearheading a bid to raise £100,000 in Owen’s October Challenge which has seen people far and wide doing their bit to bring in cash for PACT (Parents Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia).

Owen’s sister, Ciara, this week took part in an 18km trek from the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield to Rotherham United’s New York Stadium.

It was tough but Ciara said she got over the aches and pains in an unusual way - by dancing it off at a music gig!

The Millers supporters club flag for Owen was unfurled during the Fleetwood match | Jim Brailsford

Rotherham United Official Supporters Club are holding a bucket collection on all away coaches during October to raise funds for PACT and last weekend took a flag honouring Owen to the Millers match away at Fleetwood.

The supporters club have also created a memorial garden at New York Stadium in memory of Owen.

Owen Jenkinson at his Whiston home with his parents Andrea and Bill | Iconic

Owen’s October Challenge will reach its peak on Saturday, October 31, with a final run event starting at 9am in Rotherham’s Clifton Park.

Ciara said that the fundraising campaign’s Just Giving site has already brought in more than £21,000. It can be reached via https://tinyurl.com/4krb5tcy

Ciara said: “We started on October 1 and have been doing this for the last couple of years, doing five to 10 kilometres each day.

“This year we are hoping to raise £100,000. Last year we raised £76,000, and £28,000 the year before so we went for £100,000 this year.

“Four hundred people are meeting up in parks and doing group runs for the challenge. That has gone up from five people in the year we started it.

“Owen was a really avid runner and on runs we definitely feel him with us.

“It’s an absolute honour to be his older sister.”

Ciara said that the Sheffield to Rotherham run this week was under the banner ‘Children’s Cancer Has No Colours’.

She explained: “No matter what football team you support, when it comes to children’s cancer clubs should unite under one front to support this.”

Ciara said that Owen was a season ticket holder with the Millers and praised the support her family has received from Rotherham United Official Supporters Club.

She said: “They always carry the flag for us and have been a great support to us.

“The community have done so much for our family.”