Henbrook House, a luxury care home in St Neots, recently held a charity half-marathon to raise funds for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity based in Cambridge. Residents, families, and staff participated by running a lap around Henbrook’s garden one at a time, before symbolically ‘passing the baton’ on to the next in line.
Together, they managed to complete 786 laps (about 27 miles) in 2.5 hours, far exceeding the original goal of 352 laps. They also succeeded in raising £297 for the hospice, which will go towards supporting its outstanding work in palliative care. Indeed, the project was such a success that other homes in the Connaught Care Collection will soon follow suit.
Today, The Chase in Huntingdon will also be hosting a half-marathon on its grounds in Medway Road, and the proceeds will go to hospice charity Sue Ryder. Donation page here: Fundraising for Sue Ryder (justgiving.com)
Catherine Frost, General Manager at Henbrook House, shares her thoughts:
“The residents have simply been amazing throughout this whole project, as have all the staff and guests who took part. When word got around that we were doing something to support a local hospice, so many people were eager to help. The work they’ve put in to not only reach our target, but to almost double it is incredible. It just goes to show there’s nothing like a worthwhile cause to bring a community together!”
Preparations are also in full-swing at The Chase, which hosts its own event on Monday. Nicola Orwin, General Manager at The Chase, comments:
“Getting ready for this marathon has been a real physical challenge for the residents, but I’m proud to say they’ve rose to it beautifully. After Henbrook’s amazing work, I think everyone here knows the bar has been set very high. I can’t wait to see how they get on!”
The idea for the half-marathon came from a staff member at Henbrook House who recently had his own experience dealing with hospices. Impressed and moved by the quality of care on offer, he wanted to give something back by raising money for the sector.
This comes at a time when hospice funding is woefully inadequate in many areas, with a group of charities recently calling for the government to step in after they couldn’t raise the funds needed to operate through NHS grants. Across the country, hospices are desperately looking for ways to fill a £77m funding gap in the sector, which is having a devastating effect on their ability to offer quality free end-of-life care.
Initiatives like this could play a role in helping close the gap, and Connaught hopes it will inspire other organisations to adopt similar schemes. Stephen Orwin, Life Enrichment & Wellbeing Coordinator who helped organise the project, says:
“When my colleague first came to me with the idea for this project, I was instantly hooked. We are always looking for ways to give something back to the community, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than supporting local hospices. This has been a real team effort, and the whole team has outdone itself in making this dream reality”.
By the end of August, Connaught Care’s four homes across the country will each hold their own charity half-marathon, raising funds for a local hospice in each location.
