A team of 40 event professionals running and walking the Royal Parks Half Marathon have raised more than £30,000 through sponsorship for the industry charity Meeting Needs.
The annual event closes the roads around Hyde Park, Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens and attracts more than 12000 participants.
Meeting Needs chair Chris Peacock described the total as “a fabulous effort in the current climate”, having completed his first ever 13 mile run to bring home the top individual sponsorship haul. Vice-chair Lene Corgan walked the circuit while charity secretary Margaret Mann shrugged off injury to complete it.
Peacock added: “We are grateful to all those who participated and sponsored to make this so successful. This cash will change many lives with the projects we can support as a result.”
Many of the other Meeting Needs participants were also attempting their first half marathons.
Their incredible fundraising efforts will be used to fund a number of projects including:
-year-round sustainable safe access to water for 236 children at Wambiti Primary School, in Kenya, with a large rain water harvesting tank which stores enough safe water to be used for drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning.
-bunk beds for 80 young girls in Sigino Secondary School in Tanzania so that girls from rural families living in poverty can sleep at school during the week, meaning they will no longer need to spend time walking several kilometres each day to and from school, and they’ll stay safe, protected from the sexual exploitation that can be common.
-a project at Uphill Junior school in western Uganda to convert a building to provide accommodation for up to 8 teachers. Typically in Uganda, accommodation is part of the staff remuneration package and good accommodation means the best teachers can be attracted to work at the school.
Contact Margaret Mann to join our team in 2023.
mmann@meetingneeds.org.uk
