We’re inviting members of the public, of all ages, to join our fitness fundraising activities, Run 31 and Squat 3100 for the 31 days of March to help raise vital funds.
Run 31 involves participants running a total of 31 miles in March and Squat 3100 is for those who wish to complete 3100 squats by the end of the month. Participants can undertake either challenge in a way that works best for them, whether that means a small amount each day or endurance sessions once or twice a week. They even have the option to undertake both!
Our March fitness fundraising initiatives build on the success of our inaugural Run 31 challenge which took place in January and resulted in 1,300 participants from across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and beyond raising over £157,000 by running 31 miles over the 31 days throughout the month.
These fundraising campaigns are essential in order to ensure we can remain fully operational 24/7 and can continue to provide world-class pre-hospital emergency care for the sickest and most critically injured patients across our regions.
It costs £15 million each year to deliver our emergency service in which specialist doctors and paramedics provide critical treatment to patients at the scene of an incident. 88% of this is raised through public donations.
Over the last 12 months, despite unprecedented operational challenges and a decline in fundraising income due to cancelled events, our 24/7 life-saving service has remained uninterrupted. In addition, we have worked in partnership with the NHS and South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust to transfer the most seriously ill COVID-19 patients between Intensive Care Units across the region. We rely on the generosity of our fundraisers in order to be able to deliver our vital service to save lives.
Helene Poursain, our Director of Fundraising and Events said: “We are so grateful to the amazing 1,300 people who supported our Run 31 in January and raised essential funds for our charity, enabling us to continue to be there 24/7 for the most critically ill and injured people in our region. In fact, we have spoken to all participants to thank them individually and let them know how much we appreciate their support.
“Building on the success of our January fitness fundraising campaign, we are excited to be organising Run 31 in March and we have added a new twist, Squat 3100, to encourage people to get involved if running doesn’t appeal to them. We hope to match the success of January’s Run 31 and urge people across Kent, Surrey and Sussex to take part and help to continue to save more lives.”
Those taking part in Run 31 or Squat 3100 will be invited to join the Run 31 Facebook community group and will receive a free t-shirt along with tips on how to promote challenges through social media.
Sophie Taylor, PA to the Head Teacher at Worthing High School, ran 31 miles a week for Run 31 and said: “My friend Siobhan, whose son was involved in a tragic accident which KSS attended, pulled together a group of friends and all 20 of us have taken part in Run 31 to raise funds for the charity. As I take part in a lot of running challenges, I wanted to push myself by running 31 miles a week. I ran 124 miles, running every day, which accumulated to 24 hours in total by the end of the month…In total, our group raised £22,776 for KSS which we are so proud of.”
Paul Golden from Aylesham, Kent said: “My wife and I are forever grateful to KSS for saving our son’s life when he was hit by a car a couple of years ago. Without KSS, he wouldn’t be alive today and so we try to fundraise for them whenever we can. For Run 31, I ran one mile a day every day in January. I planned a route which included the road where the accident took place and the location where the KSS helicopter landed. My older son joined me when he could, either on his bike or running next to me. I am so pleased to have raised £1,300 for KSS and would like to thank my family and friends for their generous donations.”
Connor Worsfold said: “I was one of six firefighters from Billingshurst Firestation who took part in Run 31. We decided to get involved as we work closely with KSS, often attending incidents together, and really wanted to show our support for them. KSS is such an important charity and we’d like to thank everyone who donated. In total, we raised over £1000. Run 31 was an ideal fundraiser for us as it’s important to keep fit as part of our job, I clocked up the miles by running every other day and some other firefighters in our team ran five miles at a time and had a few days off in between. One member of the team, Ben Marshall, really went the extra mile – he ran over 100 miles over the month.”
Rachel Walker from Horley said: “I live quite close to the Redhill aerodrome and regularly see KSS helicopters flying over my house so I wanted to support them – they are an amazing charity and I know how much they need fundraising support. During the first lockdown I started Couch to 5K but gave up after 2 weeks as I lacked the motivation to continue. Run 31 really motivated me – I ran 1.5 miles or more every day and I am now going to carry on running too. I am really grateful to friends, family, colleagues and members of my football team, AFC Acorns in Crawley for their generous donations. I raised a total of £1,200 and ended up completing 65 miles in 31 days. As a marketing target I said that if I raised £700 or more I would run the last day in fancy dress. I ran a total of 2.7 miles in the dinosaur costume through Westvale Park in Horley! I saw a lot of local residents smile when they were out on their walk which made the whole experience that much better.”
