With around 90 runners taking part, charity Harry’s Rainbow enjoyed a wet but hugely enjoyable day at the Milton Keynes Festival of Running – with the unexpected boost of fundraising targets being shattered by a significant margin.
The team, which included Harry’s Rainbow founder Odette Mould MBE and the Mayor of Milton Keynes, Cllr Mick Legg, ended up adding around £18,000 to the charity’s funds – enough to help more than 25 bereaved children.
Harry’s Rainbow supports children and young people in Milton Keynes who have lost a parent or sibling, providing individual, tailored support where it is needed as well as information and guidance through its website and social media sites, as well as organising support groups, activities and trips for children and their families.
Rain at the start of the event didn’t deter the runners, and Odette was delighted with both the turnout and the fundraising results.
“I am absolutely blown away by what the team did,” said Odette. “We do ask runners to meet a minimum fundraising target, and if they’d all done that we were expecting in the region of £8,000. The fact that they all went above and beyond what we asked them for is just amazing, I am so delighted with how it all went. The weather wasn’t very kind at one point and those doing the 20-mile distance set off in heavy rain, but it got better as the day went on, fortunately.
“I’d like to thank all the individuals, and all the teams from local clubs and businesses who raised money for us on the day. It was a fantastic effort.”
In addition to the sponsorship the runners collected, the total was boosted by donations to Jimmy Gillespie from Everyday Performance Therapy, who was on hand to provide massages to ease the runners’ aching bodies after they crossed the finish line.
Jimmy, along with Harry’s Rainbow partners Good Gym MK and local firm Lynx Networks, has supported the charity throughout the build-up to the event.
Odette added: “There are so many people we want to thank for either taking part or supporting us throughout, even the Mayor of Milton Keynes, who I believe is the first Milton Keynes Mayor to run a half-marathon during their time in office, so well done to him. It was tough, we were all a bit sore and aching afterwards, but it was so worth it.”
Find out more about Harry’s Rainbow.
