Meet some of our inspiring Great Manchester Run supporters

AHEAD of the 20^th Great Manchester Run this weekend, we have been excited to meet some of the runners.

A total of 25,000 participants are expected to take part in the Mini and Junior, Half Marathon and 10K events this year and we’re pleased to say that lots of them will be part of the Manchester Foundation Trust Charity team.

It’s not only the 20^th year of Great Manchester Run, 2023 is also a special birthday for our organisation too as we’ll be celebrating 75 years of the NHS. And the birthplace of the NHS is widely known as what is now Trafford General Hospital – one of the 10 hospitals and community services our supporters can raise funds for.

We have more than 440 colleagues from our 10 hospitals and community teams taking part in the fifth Team MFT Blue Wave – many of whom will be raising money for our Charity.

We also have 140 members of the public running for us in the 10K, as well as 25 half marathon runners and 20 youngsters in the Mini and Junior runs. We hope the event will help us to raise £25,000 for our Charity.

We’d love to feature all our amazing supporters in this page, but unfortunately we had to narrow it down. So here are some people we’d love you to look out for and cheer on this year….

The Campbell Family

Little two-year-old Hugo is a current patient of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. At the end of September 2022, he was diagnosed with an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (AT/RT).

His parents Laura and Paul, from Sale, had noticed Hugo was sick for a few days, and at hospital a scan revealed he had a tumour at the bottom of his brain towards his spine. After originally attending Wythenshawe Hospital in the evening, by the following morning Hugo was being operated on at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Dad Paul said: “The operation and subsequent chemotherapy has been going really well and we’re hopeful Hugo just has one or two more chemotherapy sessions after Great Manchester Run left.

Hugo’s siblings Teddy, aged four, and eight-year-old Georgia, are taking part in this year’s Mini Run while Laura, Paul and a group of about 14 friends and family will be tackling the 10K.

They’ve already raised almost £8,000 for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity and are planning more fundraising activities for later in the year! You can sponsor them here.

To download a press pack of photos relating to the Campbell family, click here.

Dennis Yarwood

Next up in our list we have Dennis – who has definitely been bitten by the running bug. He has run all 20 of the Great Manchester Runs and for the past few years he has done it to raise funds for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Dennis often takes on the Half Marathon and the 10K events in the same day and this year is no exception. He will first complete the Half Marathon, then he will pull on a Rubik’s Cube fancy dress costume to run the 10K.

Dennis said: “I’ve run it as Spiderman before but I think this will be a more challenging costume.

“I was also in Brook’s Barmy Army where we marched as a band around the 10K.

“I have four kids and thankfully nothing serious has ever happened to them, but Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is still very close to my heart.”

You can donate to Dennis’ fundraising page here.

Jane Ford

Jane, who is a mum to three grown up children, is another member of the 20 club, having run all Great Manchester Runs. Surprisingly she says she never really saw herself as a runner but enjoys the health benefits of going for a run.

Jane is one of our Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital supporters and not only does the 10K, but regularly attends our Christmas Carols in the City concert at Manchester Cathedral. As a Scout Leader, she also encourages her scout group to regularly support the children’s hospital with events and sales.

Her passion for the children’s hospital started when one of her children, her daughter Lindsay, was treated for a hole in the heart. She said: “She had a hole in the heart, which back in the 1980s was much more of a complicated procedure. I hear now it’s keyhole surgery, it’s often detected at birth, and there is very minimal scarring.

“Lindsay wasn’t diagnosed until she was a toddler and she has quite large scars. I’m glad to say she is fine now and is a healthy adult. She worked in the Manchester Royal Infirmary cardiology department for a while and now works for a medical company that works with pacemakers. So it is nice to think she is helping people who also have heart problems like she did.”

Jane will be running the 10K with her husband Alan. For a press pack of Jane's photos click here.

Stuart Hall

A hotdog, a Whoopee Cushion, a cowboy….Stuart has dressed as them all. This year he will be doing the 10K in a dinosaur costume.

He loves seeing the children laugh and wave as he completes the course and has raised more than £7,000 for our children’s hospital over the years.

Look out for him in this incredible costume! We hope the costume survives the 10K run and doesn’t become extinct before the finishline.

You can support Stuart’s fundraising page here. For a press pack of Stuart's photos click here.

And Finally…

Thank you to everyone who raises money for us and takes part in our events – we couldn’t do it without you!

If you’re interested in finding out more about activities you can join in to support our family of hospitals and services, check out our Events Page.

And if you’re running Great Manchester Run 2023 don’t forget to stop by Charity Village and say ‘hi’. We’d love to see you!