Six year old local pupil, Simon Gunning, has completed a sponsored run in Cannon Hill Park in support of Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice.
Year 1 pupil, Simon Gunning, from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Harborne set himself the challenge to run a sponsored 5k race to raise money for his local hospice – Birmingham St Mary’s. He was inspired to do this after fundraising for the local charity with his school during Lent including a dress down day every Friday. In total, Simon has raised over £260 in sponsorship for the Hospice which provides free end of life care and support to over 1,200 individuals and their families, carers and loved ones across Birmingham and Sandwell every year.
Simon said, “Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice is a very good charity because it helps people who are sick. My class at St Mary’s School chose the Hospice as our charity for Lent and I wanted to help get them even more money. I decided to run a 5k race to raise money for them and I am very happy that I raised £260.”
It costs over £8 million per year to run the services at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice and over half of these running costs come from voluntary donations like Simon’s.
Jenny Chin, Community Fundraiser said “We would like to say a big thank you to Simon for taking on this exciting challenge and raising over £260 for the Hospice. We have fundraisers of all ages support us and we are especially proud of Simon for going the extra mile to teach others about Hospice care. Simon’s donation could help pay for four specially trained Health Care Assistants to visit patients in their home and provide emotional and psychological support”.
If you would like to hold your own fundraising event like Simon, visit www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/registration to get your free fundraising pack.
