JET celebrates Great Run fundraising total
On 14th December we were honoured to be one of the charities invited to Newcastle by the Great Run organisation to celebrate over £53 million being raised this year for fabulous causes.
Research by The Great Run Company shows that participants in the 23 Great Run events across the UK have raised an estimated £53,945,246 for hundreds of charities over the last 12 months. A staggering £26,332,773 alone was raised in the flagship Great North Run (GNR) between Newcastle and South Shields, the world’s biggest half marathon with 57,000 entrants.
The total was unveiled by the Great Run Company at the St Mary’s Heritage Centre in Gateshead, a short distance from the iconic Tyne Bridge, which participants cross during the GNR.
Representatives from eight invited charities benefiting from funds raised by Great Run participants were in attendance at the event, including our very own CEO Dr Emma Egging and runner and inspirational mentor Martin Smith, along with the iconic inflatable Red Arrow which he ran with this year.
Angela James, JET’s Head of Business and Communication who also participated in this year’s GNR said “JET has fielded a team of runners every year in the GNR since our inception five years ago and it’s a vital part of our fundraising calendar. As well as generating valuable donations, it raises our profile, particularly when we have runners such as our patron Professor Brian Cox, and galvanises essential support.
“Events like this have helped us to expand our youth engagement programmes into six regions across the UK, working with more than 4,000 young people a year, inspiring them to overcome adversity and be the best they can be.
“We’re enormously grateful to every one of our runners, to the GNR team and the relentless energy of the crowd each year, and can’t wait to be there again in 2017.”
Mark Hollinshead, Great Run Company group chief executive, said: “Charity participants are the lifeblood of our events and we’re delighted to see such a magnificent amount of money raised for good causes in 2016.
“It is heartening to see that there is so much goodwill among our running community and it has been humbling to meet some of the charities to learn first hand how they are putting those funds to good use.”
