Charity news

Why not take part in the UK’s biggest and best Inflatable 5k obstacle course and raise money to help the NHS at the same time? Take part with friends, as an individual or as a teambuilding event for your company. Date: Saturday 13 November Location: East Of England Showground, Oundle Road, Peterborough, PE2 6XE Ticket Price: Free Minimum Sponsorship: £100

This event has just gotten even BIGGER Bouncier and Better - now with 26 humongous obstacles! With the new addition of ‘The Demon’ there is plenty to fun to be had! Our NEW two x 2.5k lap course means LESS Running and MORE Obstacles! You will tackle 26 gigantic obstacles.

Sign up here: https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/inflatable-5k

Arthur Rank Hospice Charity is excited to announce that their annual Festive Run, sponsored by Price Bailey Ely and Busy Bee Recruitment, is now open for registrations! Runners, fancy-dress lovers and teams of families and friends are being invited to limber up, pull on their best Christmas-themed fancy dress and run 5 or 10km in their chosen location on Sunday 28 November. The jolly event, which welcomes in the start of the festive season, has raised a magnificent £138,500 since it began in 2010. Last year five hundred runners took part in their own hometown or chosen location, raising an astonishing £22,000 - a record-high! The Charity’s Events Team had explored whether a physical event might be possible this year but - with so much continued uncertainty in the approach to winter and the safety of all those involved being of paramount importance – the decision was reached for the Festive Run to remain remote for 2021. As always, the Charity is seeing this as an opportunity rather than a set back! Part of the charm of the event taking place remotely is that people get a good excuse to sprinkle a touch of Christmas magic around the places they live. Angeline Liles, Events Officer at the Charity, explains: “We received such brilliant feedback after last year’s event. People all over Cambridgeshire (and further afield) dressed up as fairies, reindeers, elves, puddings and Christmas trees and pounded their local pavements in support of Hospice care! “It just goes to show the power of community: a few hundred people sign up to be part of the festive fun and tell their friends and families about it. That results in thousands of pounds being raised for our essential front-line services, which are then provided back to our community: a gift that makes the biggest difference!” New for 2021, is the addition of a 10km option, so participants can now choose to do a longer route or stick to the traditional 5km distance. While festive fancy dress is not obligatory, there will be some extra motivation to get creative with the tinsel and glitter, as the Charity will be awarding prizes for best adult, child and group fancy dress. Those taking part will be invited to post their photos in a digital album and share their seasonal efforts on social media using #ARHCfestiverun. Registration is £10 for adults and £5 for children (under 16) and keen Festive Runners (and walkers!) can now sign up at arhc.org.uk/festiverun. Everyone who registers before 21 November will receive a specially designed runner pack including a Santa hat, runner number, fundraising tips and treats to keep the energy levels up!

East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) has been awarded the internationally-recognised Investors in People (IIP) accreditation and won a coveted charity award. The charity has received ‘We invest in people’ accreditation, recognising its principles and practices around supporting employees are in place. The assessment follows an employee survey, a review of processes and practices and extended consultation with employees and volunteers. EACH Chief Executive Phil Gormley said: “It’s great news and I’d like to say a huge thank you for everyone’s contribution and dedication to the first part of this key programme. It’s a big achievement for the organisation. “It recognises a lot of hard work done by colleagues across the organisation, investments made over a number of years and, at the crux of it, means colleagues are involved in supporting each other and doing their best to make working at EACH better.” The charity has also scooped a prestigious Third Sector Enterprise Award. This recognises the meteoric rise of its retail performance. The ceremony took place in London on Friday 17 September and the proud EACH team was represented by Sarah Throssell, EACH Head of Central Operations, and representatives from the retail team. Just being nominated represented a huge achievement and is testament to the success of the charity’s retail arm, especially in a challenging climate during the pandemic. EACH Director of Retail Ian Nicolson said: “We were absolutely thrilled to win this very prestigious award.” The award category was for a social enterprise or charity that has ‘significantly improved its income from commercial activities in recent years’. EACH has developed a thriving retail sector which is an essential funding stream to keep care services running. From 14 shops in 2014, the charity now has 44 across East Anglia and in 2019, EACH was recorded as the secondfastest growing retailer in the annual Charity Shops Survey.