Raise for Life would like to say a massive thank you to all those who participated in the ‘Leamington Spa 10K’ run to help raise sponsorship for temporary housing in Gaza.
Over 70 guys ran the famous Midlands course representing Raise for Life and also our partner charity – Interpal. Not only did the participants run to raise donations, they also helped to increase awareness of the need to help the people of Gaza.
The event went as smoothly as planned and was largely due to the many volunteers who turned up early on Sunday and gave up their time to help make it a memorable occasion. They offered their support by driving runners to the venue, photographing the event, registering participants, handing out t-shirts and looking after the runners’ valuables. The volunteers were even there at the finishing line to offer an energy boost in the form of a banana to those that crossed the line!
Although the race is seen as an opportunity to get people to sponsor the runners and raise funds for an important cause, there is always the competitive streak in some who took this as an opportunity to record “PB’s” and have the bragging
rights over their friends and family members. Some ran the course in a time that pushed close to what the professionals would be proud of, whilst others (including the author) took a laid back approach and let’s just say “went for
a leisurely jog around the park!”… it’s all for fun and in the name of charity 🙂
Regardless of the outcome, the race was a success and this was concluded with a well deserved afternoon meal at Desi Karahi in Birmingham. Here, runners gathered to tell their stories of how they had powered down the home straight to the sound of the crowd in rapturous applause and that the time they had recorded was just shy of the world record… the food wasn’t the only thing with an extra bit of masala!!!
Speeches by Raise for Life and Interpal reminded the diners why they had run or volunteered and what the temporary housing would mean to a lucky few in Gaza. There was a sense of reality hitting home…Although we all had a great day, the reality was (and still is) that life is too short and there are so many people out there who still need help in whatever form and manner. Although the event was headlined: 
“Race to Rebuild Gaza”, in truth it is more of a race for us to rebuild our faith and help others to rebuild their lives.
You can start now by helping to rebuild the lives of the people of Gaza by giving them shelter in the form of  temporary houses – whilst the rebuild of Gaza takes place over the next few years. The donations page is still open and will remain so until Tuesday 19th May 2015. Please donate now as you don’t know when the pages of your life could close and then… it’s too late.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE RUNNERS, VOLUNTEERS, INTERPAL, SPONSORS, SUPPLIERS AND ANYONE REMOTELY LINKED TO HELPING RAISE FOR LIFE.
– Faheem Kazi (RfL)
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