For the past year local event supplies and sporting memorabilia firm Running Imp have not only been celebrating a significant milestone in their history – their 25th year in business, but they have also been raising funds for a charity close to their hearts – St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice.
“Our reasons for choosing St Barnabas are two fold” said Chris Illsley, Running Imp Co-Founder & Chief Executive. “Firstly we felt it would be appropriate to support a local charity in our 25th Anniversary year, and the hospice has been providing care and support free of charge to people living with a life-limiting illness for over 3 decades here in Lincolnshire. Secondly we wanted to say a big thank you for the kindness and support they showed to our amazing and inspirational friend Jules King who sadly died in St Barnabas in March of last year.“
In Jules’ own words:
“St Barnabas is a fantastic service and gives such wonderful care to me and my family. My biggest worry was how my family would cope after I am gone, but knowing that the hospice will be there for them is a massive weight off my shoulders. People need to know what a wonderful charity St Barnabas are and what great work they do”.
Over the past year the team at Running Imp have turned their hand to pretty much anything and everything they could in order to raise funds. They started with a festive dress down day back in December of last year which raised a staggering £560 with all staff dressing up something rather festive and one guy in a mankini!
CEO – Chris Illsley also took it upon himself to set his own personal challenge and that was to walk 2013 miles and set a target of raising £2013, well Chris more than doubled his target and completed his challenge well ahead of schedule back in October. This challenge saw Chris taking to the footpaths in and around Lincoln through wind, rain, hale and snow throughout the year as well as walking on holiday in scorching temperatures in Dubai and Spain, he never missed a day, lost over 2 stone in weight and raised a phenomenal £5,000 for the Hospice.
We also saw the adrenaline enthusiasts of the team take on the challenge to overcome their fear of heights whilst abseiling off the top of the Grimsby Dock Tower and two teams participated in our fun filled, wet and wild ‘It’s a Knockout’ event in the summer. On top od the support at various events we have organized, throughout the year Running Imp have also been donating 1p per medal ordered which culminated in a very generous donation of £10,000 from the company. All of this combined has resulted in…wait for it…a staggering £18,430 towards the on going cost of our patient and family care and support services across the county.
Fundraising Manager, Veronica Brien for St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice said:
“When we were first approached by Running Imp with their offer of support we were absolutely thrilled to be involved with this family orientated local business who knew first hand about the care and services we provide through the support given to their close friends – the King Family.
The team should be so proud of themselves for everything they have done, they’ve had a wonderful year celebrating the success of 25 years in business and we are delighted to have been a part of that and of course, we are forever grateful for the support they have given us, not just the financial donations but also the awareness they have raised amongst friends, family and their customers. It is proven that there will be an ever increasing need for palliative and end of life care in Lincolnshire, what Running Imp have done is given us the support to ensure we will be able to continue providing the on-going care and support that we deliver within our community – Thank you”.
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Chris Illsley said
“We have been proud to support such a fantastic, caring and hard working organisation this year. We’re delighted to have raised £18,430 to help provide the people of Lincolnshire with high quality specialist palliative care and support.”