The Foundation provided a match-funding grant of £250 to Tommy’s, the charity which funds research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and provide pregnancy health information to parents. Holly Turner, HR Assistant in CareTech’s Adults South Region, explains below why she decided to raise funds for this great cause.
I began running in March 2017 with a goal to complete my first 5k fun run with colleagues and also wanted to get fit. I started off very slow but I built up my distance over time. Once I had completed 5km, I started working towards getting 10km under my belt. I joined a running club and subsequently got the running bug! Some of my running club friends started talking about signing up for marathons and half marathons and I thought to myself, even though I love how running makes me feel, it is HARD work so I actually couldn’t think of anything worse than running anything longer than 10km!
That being said, the more I looked into it, the more I became convinced. The thing that made me finally bite the bullet and sign up for a Half Marathon race was being asked to run on behalf of Tommy’s, the baby charity and to raise money to help fund research into stillbirths, miscarriages and premature births. This is a cause very close to my heart as my baby cousin Ashley was stillborn. He would have been five years old on 28th November 2018, so I thought this was a lovely way to remember him and help fund research to help prevent stillbirths from devastating any other families.
The race was really tough but also totally amazing. I had to remind myself to make sure I took in all the historical and monumental sites and landmarks as I made my way around the course. My family came to cheer me on and crossing that finishing line was the best feeling ever, knowing I had raised money for Tommy’s and all the weeks of training had finally paid off.
Thank you very much CareTech Foundation for your generous contribution to Tommy’s. I couldn’t be more grateful!