A REDDITCH postie will swap the roads of the town for those of the city later this month when he runs the Birmingham Half Marathon on in aid of a local nursing and midwifery charity.
The AJ Bell Great Birmingham Run is the biggest half marathon in the Midlands, attracting competitors from across the UK and around the world, and this year, expects around 20,000 people to tackle the new route.
The Run is now second only in the UK to the Great North Run in size.
Father of three girls, Alan Whiting, 54, from Headless Cross, is no stranger to the 13.1 mile run and has raised several hundred pounds over previous years for Diabetes UK and for the John Bonham Memorial Fund in 2015.
However, this year he has chosen Cavell to benefit from his latest effort.
“I wanted to raise money in support of our great nurses here in the UK. Cavell is based here in Redditch and works across the country helping nurses and midwives, working and retired, through tough times.” Alan said.
“It is the chosen charity of Vintage Trax where my wife Teresa and sister-in-law, Ros Sidaway, both work so Cavell was an obvious choice to help fundraise for.”
“Many of our hardworking nurses and midwives are going through especially difficult times emotionally and physically post-Covid, as well as financially during the current cost of living crisis.
“As a charity, independent of hospital trusts own charities, Cavell’s work is vital to nurses needing help and perhaps not wanting to seek support directly from their employers e.g. for privacy reasons.”
Savannah Seger, a Cavell employee, said, “As a small but mighty charity, we really benefit from the support of fundraisers, and Vintage Trax, a local business to Cavell’s headquarters, has raised hundreds for our charity.
“It’s wonderful to see that the owners’ passion for Cavell’s cause has extended to Alan who will take on his own fundraising challenge in May.
“Cavell is receiving more and more applications for support, so every donation counts to make a difference for nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants going through tough times.”
Visit https://cavell.enthuse.com/pf/alan-whiting to sponsor Alan.