2009

BB9 winner Rachel Rice has made an unusual request for her birthday this year. She wants people to donate the money that they would normally spend on birthday cards to her justgiving site. As Rachel said, "Every pound helps so instead of friends, family and well wishers giving me birthday cards I'm asking them to donate that money to my justgiving page."

 

Rachel - who turns 25 on Saturday - is running this year's London marathon and is trying to raise money for the stroke association which is a charity that is close to her heart.

 

Although she has run half-marathons before and has regularly run the Race for Life for Cancer Research UK this will be the first marathon for Rachel. She chose to run the Flora London Marathon to raise money for The Stroke Association because both her grandfathers suffered strokes so has experienced firsthand the shock and devastation that a stroke can cause.

 

Rachel said, " When my first granddad had a stroke I was only 9 years of age so it was very confusing and difficult for me to understand what was going on.

 

"When my other granddad had his stroke in 2003 it was devastating as he always seemed so healthy and we were very close.

 

"It's frightening to think that this can kind of thing can happen to anyone at any age without warning. Tragically he died a few years ago as a result of the damage that the stroke had caused."  

 

Rachel's involvement in charity fundraising is nothing new. She has already helped numerous charities since leaving the Big Brother house last September and is becoming well known both in Wales and in England for her readiness to offer her support.

 

Rachel hasn't stopped since her triumphant win on Big Brother 9, when she won over the hearts of the British public. She has seen her career go from strength to strength, yet she has kept true to herself and her ambitions and has focused on her teacher training. Rachel has turned down countless requests to appear in the pages of publications baring all, in order to concentrate on becoming an English and Drama teacher. "I love having a class of students and seeing them progress and grow." she says.

 

After her success in the Big Brother house Rachel was overwhelmed by the reaction of the public, and has had a huge support from all over the country. Rachel is now a house-hold name in Wales, and has been in high demand to do PA's there and in England. The week that followed the Big Brother final she embarked on a whirlwind tour of the UK doing photo shoots and interviews with the UK media.

 

However, Rachel has currently put her career on hold while she is in training for the marathon which will hopefully spin off into her career and see her doing more fitness promotions and possibly a fitness or health DVD. Rachel said

 

"I'm looking forward to the challenge, and am excited by the prospect of helping my charity; I want to raise as much money as I can and already have some sponsors who will be supporting me on the day which is fantastic as the Stroke Association is a really worthwhile cause."

 

Rachel's justgiving page can be found at: www.justgiving.com/rachelrice1 |

The Stroke Association http://www.stroke.org.uk/ |

 

For more information on Rachel Rice and interview requests please contact Carly Bauckham at Jonathan Lipman on 0207 534 7993 / carly@jonathanlipman.com|