We run for the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Running Club, the RCUCRC, and we are a team fundraising for the Ukrainian people affected by the Russian conflict. All donations to our fundraising channels go straight to the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

In 2024 and 2025, we entered a team in the Great North Run, the largest run in the UK, with over 60,000 runners. In 2025, we raised £2,600 in two months. We passed £15,000 in 2026, are targeting £20,000 by the end of 2026, and need your help.

Why? Humanitarian aid is still needed and will be needed long after the conflict is over. Whatever you can spare, maybe the price of a meal out, that would be a small sacrifice compared to the hardship and tragedy experienced by the people of Ukraine. Pierre has met many Ukrainians on his fundraising journey, and one family has moved home 16 times. It has been a far more moving experience than he imagined.

The British Red Cross and its Ukrainian partner are still very active, with hundreds of volunteers from Ukraine and the UK. They still need our help now more than in the beginning, and help will still be needed beyond peace. The Red Cross provides relief for the tens of millions of people in Ukraine who have fled their homes, and have lost loved ones, by donating food, water, shelter, heat and power.

So, would you like to help by donating or even joining the fundraising team? You can donate on this page by clicking the big red button on this page, www.justgiving.com/team/rcucrc. To join the RCUCRC fundraising team, email us at 2026justgivingstory@rcucrc.org.uk. We will give you details of how to join, create your own RCUCRC fundraising page and be part of the team’s challenge to take us towards our £20,000 target. There is no minimum personal fundraising target for your commitment, unless you are joining a British Red Cross Event for our fundraiser, such as the Great North Run. For all other fundraising plans, and if you can raise £10 or more, we need you on the team!

So why not join the RCUCRC fundraiser and help the people of Ukraine by doing something special in 2026? Your fundraiser could be one event, or your goal could be a distance target, for example, 100km or whatever you think, to suit your timeline? Maybe 500km or 1,000km this year, where your running app data so far counts towards your goal. For help, you can email 2026justgivingstory@rcucrc.org.uk. Of course, you don’t have to run. We recently recruited a fundraiser who is organising a charity football game for the RCUCRC and Ukraine. So, if you are a cyclist or a swimmer, with a challenge in mind, we want to hear from you, please!

Can you join our friendly runs? Yes, join the RCUCRC at www.strava.com/clubs/rcucrc where you will receive invitations to our runs. We host #Virtual or #InPerson runs on Tuesdays for all abilities and Sundays for those looking to complete 10k, half or full marathons. We also visit parkruns on Saturdays. The RCUCRC has over 1,000 members worldwide, and you can join at www.strava.com/clubs/rcucrc. As a club, we run around the world every 14 days, so if you are not running with us already, please join and add your running distance to our total.

So, how did we start? When conflict began in Feb-2022, the RCUCRC founder, Pierre Laubscher, ran for the Ukrainian Red Cross in the Sheffield Half Marathon in Mar-2022, but he just carried on. Pierre passed 7,000km for the RCUCRC in Feb-2026. Please see the link to the RCUCRC and Pierre's story below, and information about the hardship in the winter of 2025-26, and how your donations will help the people of Ukraine.

Best wishes

The RCUCRC Team

for and on behalf of,

The British Red Cross and the Ukrainian Red Cross

RCUCRC page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/plaubscher-2022

RCUCRC: Supporting the British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross charities.