The hospice’s 10th annual Mini Marathon took place on Sunday, 14 May, giving us lots to celebrate in Royal Greenwich Park.
In total, 934 children signed up for a fun morning out with their families, enjoying free face painting, sports and games courtesy of Better GLL. The children also enjoyed performances by the Rock Choir and a warm-up by Greenwich Runners before setting off on the 2.62-mile route.
Around the park, there was plenty of cheering from the Lewisham and Greenwich Police Cadets, who were the event’s marshals. And, to spur runners up the Avenue Hill in the Park, Tony from Play it on Pans geed-up runners on with his uplifting steel pan sound.
Since the hospice’s first Mini Marathon in 2013, this 2.62-mile fun run has become a firm fixture in our event calendar and a popular running event for local children between 5 and 16 years old.
Ten years ago, the hospice had 300 children signed up, and this number steadily increased until it reached 1,800 children in 2019. Even during the pandemic year, 316 children took part in their own virtual Mini Marathon. Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice was inspired by the kids who ran around their balconies, gardens and local parks to complete their challenge.
Augusta Adu, Events Manager at the hospice, said: “The Hospice Mini Marathon took inspiration from the 2012 London Olympics, and ten years later, it is humbling to see hundreds of children lace up their trainers, put on their favourite fancy-dress costumes and pound the paths around Royal Greenwich Park to raise money for their local hospice.
“We would like to thank every child who participated in the Mini Marathon. The reason we hold this wonderful community event is to raise money so that our hospice team can support families so that they are not alone when a loved one may need our services or be nearing end-of-life.”
One child who took part in the run, George Stanley, said: “At first, I was nervous about doing the mini marathon, but 5 minutes in, I loved it. It has inspired me to take part in other runs, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”
The hospice would like to give a big thank you to JLL, their headline sponsor, who provided a JLL sports bag and water bottle for every runner.
Charlie Keep, Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice’s Interim Head of Fundraising, said: “Our fundraising events would not be possible without the support of the community, so another massive thank you to:
- Pearly Queen of Greenwich and Pearly Queen of Bexley
- Rotary Club of Sidcup
- Rotary Club of Greenwich
- Lewisham Police Cadets
- Woolwich Army Cadets
- Goodgym Greenwich
“It’s thanks to the support of those in the community that we can continue to put on these events, making them bigger and better each year.”
Over the past ten years, more than £ 500,000 has been raised by all of the amazing children and their families. So the hospice would like to give the biggest thank you of all to them.
Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice hopes to return to Royal Greenwich Park in May 2024. To join the hospice’s mailing list, email team@gbch.org.uk.