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Winter runners raising funds

Winter runners raising funds

In the summer of 2012, Kirsty and Chris Smith ran the British 10k to raise money for UCL Hospitals Charitable Foundation - this was just the start of their journey of support. So far they have raised more than £12,000, an outstanding contribution to the work that we do, made even more so by the fact that they did their first run just three days before they got married. We caught up with Kirsty to hear her story, we hope that you find it as inspirational as we did!

"18 months ago we decided to do a 10k charity run for UCL Hospitals Charitable Foundation 3 days before we got married, some thought we were mad! It was one of the hottest days of the year and it was the first charity run we had ever done. It was such a fantastic experience and a great atmosphere. We do a lot of running together as we very much enjoy keeping fit! UCLH NHS Foundation Trust is very close to our hearts as Chris is looked after by Professor William McKenna and his team because he has a small hole in the heart which he was born with. We were honoured to raise funds to support the amazing work that they do.

I got involved with helping people keep fit and healthy with a whole food plant based diet, and decided to get a group of us together to run the 10k Winter Run Series in London. It was a complete contrast in weather to our first one. It was absolutely freezing! But everyone really enjoyed their first experience of a big London run. Chris and I decided to donate the funds that we raised from this run to UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre. One client and friend of ours that I would like to mention in particular is Catherine Gurney. In the last nine months Catherine has lost four stone. So I just wanted to say very well done Catherine on completing your first London 10k run.

Our run was dedicated to and in loving memory of Rosie Gaine, who was taken from her family and all of us far too soon. We wish she could have been there to see us run; she was cared for and looked after so well by UCLH. We will always be grateful to them."

All of us at UCL Hospitals Charitable Foundation would like to say how very grateful we are to Kirsty and Chris for all the training and effort that they put into raising money for us. Without the generous support of people like them we would not be able to continue to invest in projects across University College London Hospitals.