Our caring team have been quick off the mark to pay tribute to the late Captain Sir Tom Moore with a fundraising run for charity.
Some 24 members of the Willows team have donned their trainers for a virtual run to raise more than £3,500 for Cancer Research UK.
Organiser Alessandra Mathis, Head of Anaesthesia here at Willows, said the sad passing of Captain Tom, who gained worldwide fame and admiration with his sponsored walk which raised a staggering £39 million for the NHS, had been the inspiration behind the event.
Alessandra said: “This run was inspired by the legendary Captain Tom as we felt he deserved to be honoured by all of us, which is why I organised a run in his memory.
“Initially, we didn’t think that we would raise much (if any) money for charity, the main motivation was purely to show how much Captain Tom has inspired us all. I invited everyone at Willows to join the run – the response was tremendous, with 24 runners in total.
“We all ran as far as we could over the weekend and pushed ourselves hard to honour this amazing gentleman. In total, we covered a combined 387km, not forgetting the 60km ran by dogs of Willows’ team members!”
The pounding of pavements, roads and country tracks has paid off handsomely with more than £3,500 raised for Cancer Research, more than 17 times our original target of £200, with money still coming in.
Alessandra added: “We chose to give money to Cancer Research for two reasons, the first being because it is a charity close to our hearts after the loss of a dear colleague and friend to cancer.
“We’re also well aware that during this year of pandemic, cancer has not stopped and families and friends have still been diagnosed with this terrible disease, so we wanted to support them as much as possible.”
Alessandra was quick to praise all the runners and also the generosity of those who donated.
She said: “We have all been very proud in taking part in this and deeply touched by the generosity of everyone who has made donations.
“I know it looks like we raised a lot but it is still a drop in the ocean in the fight against cancer, so if any further donations would be hugely appreciated by everyone here at Willows.”
To donate, visit: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/willows-runners.
Huge thanks again to all the runners who took part…..
- Alessandra Mathis
- Brigite Pedro
- Cathy Bowen
- Dan Cotter
- Dawn Calt
- Eve Cannon
- Francesca Violini
- Hayley Williams
- Jade Wright (and her dog Belle)
- James Elford
- Julie Jenkins
- Katie Lynch
- Ludivine Boiron
- Mark Dunning
- Poppy Gant
- Rachel Bonham
- Katie Rose (and her dog Floyd)
- Sam Carrington Brown
- Steph Collyer
- Stephen Baines
- Tom Buckley
- Tom Reilly (and his dog Morgan)
- Tony Avery (and his dog Jake)
- Tracy Volante
- William Robinson (and his dogs Rocket and Olive)
