Volunteers turned out for a charity run in Letchworth organised by Feed Up Warm Up to raise money for the charity’s drop-in and outreach service.
Feed Up Warm Up volunteers – known as the Orange Army – and keen runners took on the half marathon starting from Radwell Meadows on Sunday in order to raise sponsorship.
The homeless drop-in and outreach service, which operates in Hitchin and Stevenage, provides a safe space for the homeless to have a hot meal and access support.
To establish social distancing, runners took off from the starting line in waves, staggering the amount of people grouped together.
In a post following the event, founder Shane Cole said: “The sponsorship money has started to come in and the weekend of fundraising has really been worth all the effort – it is looking like we have raised over £2,000, and even more is being raised as we speak by a couple of lovely local businesses plus more sponsorships to come in so figure will be rising.
“The last few months have been tough financially for us with most people not being in the position themselves to donate – it’s so nice being able to set up the event and for it to bring in so much for our charity.
“It will help us going in to winter to buy much needed supplies.
He also told the Comet: “We worked with The Heritage Foundation, NHDC and local police to make sure we had all the guidance and legal requirements fulfilled.
“The event was such a success with everyone sticking to their own groups and following the guidelines. All participants had their temperature checked and all signed track and trace forms.”
Letchworth-based Autoglym donated hand sanitiser, and The One Stop Shop in Stotfold also raised funds towards the final figure with a fun afternoon on Saturday as a build up to the next day’s event.
The fun run had 40 people take part with first place going to Grant Harknett, who completed it in 1 hour 45 minutes 56 secs.
Shane added: “We feel it went very well. I would like to say thank you to all the donators, businesses and participants in the event, and to Nortonbury Spa for the use of the car park and toilet facilities.”
Since its inception in 2018, Feed Up Warm Up garnered support from individuals and organisations from across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
Having started out as a drop-in for Hitchin’s homeless, it soon began running the same service in Stevenage, and also funded an outreach van to help those in the surrounding areas.
Sunday’s Run for Fun event was one of few that were able to go ahead, as the coronavirus pandemic has seen mass gatherings cancelled.
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