A big thank you to our 149 participants from across Kent, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex who raised over £24K by taking part in KSS’s Run 31 fitness fundraiser, each completing a minimum of 31 miles throughout January.
Participants of Run 31, now in its third year, ranged from people taking up running for the first time through to experienced athletes. This year, we encouraged people who wanted a greater challenge to set themselves an even tougher target – and we were so impressed with their achievements.
Our CEO, David Welch, who regularly takes part in our fitness fundraisers, completed an incredible 105 miles across the month, the equivalent of four marathons.
Lola Inge, Running and Challenge Manager, KSS said, “We are very grateful to everyone who took part. It was so inspiring to hear the stories of their personal achievements and how much they enjoyed taking part.”
“With demand for our life-saving service at an all-time high and costs to run the service higher than ever before, fundraisers such as Run 31 are vital for keeping our service fully operational 24/7.”
David Welch, CEO, KSS added: “I would like to thank everyone who took part in Run 31 and their generous sponsors. From my own perspective, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and feel very proud to have been able to contribute to KSS in this way.”
“We are thrilled to have raised such a significant amount of money for our charity. It costs £16.6M a year or £45K per day to operate our world leading service and 87% of this is raised through the generosity of our supporters. We could not achieve what we do without your incredible support.”
Clare Boyling, from West Sussex, is a Team KSS Volunteer and took part throughout January:
“I’m doing my best to continue my late father Stewart Boyling’s support of KSS. As a Team KSS Volunteer I like to promote the Air Ambulance and help out with events when I can. In this case I accidentally signed up for Run 31, as opposed to just supporting participants.”
“So January found me walking (I’m not a runner) and raising funds for KSS, so if I can do it anyone can. I thoroughly recommend having a go next January as you get to keep fit and fundraise for an essential service that saves lives.”
Former KSS Trustee Andy Farrant, from Surrey, has already signed up to take part in Run 31 2024:
“This was my first year as part of the Run 31 challenge and for me this will now be an annual event. I’m already missing the team spirit and seeing the daily updates from other members of the group.”
“It was actually really good fun, great for the waistline and the end result in the money raised something is to be proud of.”
Natasha Kendall, based in East Sussex, completed the challenge as a team of three raising £1,109.
“I took part in Run 31 for the first time this year because my son unfortunately needed care and treatment from KSS at the end of October 2022. I felt I had to do my part to support this outstanding charity.
“I don’t feel any words that I choose to describe how amazing the KSS team are would justify what they have done for my son, myself and our whole family. I will be forever grateful. The Run 31 team on Facebook are extremely supportive and really make you feel part of the team.”
If you would like to take part in our next fundraiser, click here.
