I'll ran with my daughter, Lucy, on Easter Monday 2010 and all money raised will be divided between the East Anglian Air Ambulance and the work of the Church in the Diocese of Norwich.  The course was 10 miles around the beautiful setting of Barningham Hall, Matlaske in Norfolk, and over 100 people either ran or walked the course.

In my work as Archdeacon of Lynn, I originally planned a sponsored run to raise money for the work and ministry of the Diocese of Norwich, work which is largely funded through the “Parish Share” system by which every church contributes to the cost.  My hope was to bring a little fun into the raising of Parish Share and demonstrate what a good and important cause it is.  It funds work in parishes across the diocese which costs approximately £11 million each year.

On 15th November last year, my wife, Shelagh, was involved in a serious road accident. After extensive surgery, she is making a good recovery, but without the East Anglian Air Ambulance which brought a doctor to the roadside and air-lifted Shelagh to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, Shelagh would not be alive today. It is for this reason that we now plan to divide the proceeds of the run with the Air Ambulance which is called out on life-saving missions 4 or 5 times each day.  It is funded solely by voluntary donations and needs to find over £3 million each year.

We will be running 10 miles and invite others to join us for all or part of this (set your own distance) to run or to walk.  To join us, we ask for a £10 donation and then invite you to find your own sponsorship, giving half to these two excellent causes and the other half for a charity of your own choice.  Families are welcome – with just one donation of £10 per household.  The course will be 3.3 miles which participants are welcome to complete once, twice – or even three times to complete a 10 mile run.  Walkers are also welcome and there will be a slightly shorter circuit for them to complete.  If you would like more details of how to join in, please email me at archdeacon.lynn@norwich.anglican.org .  If you wish, we can add your name to this JustGiving page to make getting sponsors easier.  We are grateful to Ecclesiastical Insurance for providing public liability insurance for the event.

We are most grateful to Thomas and Amelia Courtauld for their kind offer of the use of Barningham Hall’s park, woods and garden for a varied and interesting course.  They will be serving teas on the day for all runners, walkers and supporters.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for these two excellent causes.

So please dig deep and donate now.