The lineup includes SERV, Mind and the Big C

Three local causes will join organisers Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF) as the new official Run Norwich charities for 2017.

SERV Norfolk, Norwich & Central Norfolk MIND, and Big C, were selected from a host of applicants for the third edition of the 10k road race and will each receive support to raise awareness of their vital work, as well as free places in Run Norwich for runners that wish to fundraise.

This year’s selections provide a diverse range of services in the local community:

SERV Norfolk is run by volunteers and provides crucial transport of medical items such as blood, plasma, breast milk, or vaccines, free of charge to the NHS.

Big C is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by cancer in Norfolk & Waveney, while Norwich & Central Norfolk MIND is the leading mental health charity in Norfolk.

They will replace Age UK Norwich, Nelson’s Journey, and Norfolk Accident Rescue Service, who have served as official race charities for 2015 and 2016.

Jackie Thornton from CSF said:

“One of our main aims is to use Run Norwich to raise funds and awareness for local charities.

“We intend to select new charities each year to help as many different groups as possible to receive the support and exposure they may not get otherwise.

“As the first year was a big learning process, we kept the original charities on for two races and we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved with each of them.”

Around 600 people accepted official charity places for the 2016 event, which saw overall entries top 5,000 for the first time.

From the 2015 and 2016 races, over £150,000 was raised for the four official charities, which has provided a welcome boost to the service that each one provides to the local community.

Nelson’s Journey, a charity that supports bereaved children, has received enough fundraising from each Run Norwich race to cover the salary of a Child Bereavement Support Worker.

This role assesses the needs of a bereaved child and provides them with support via 1:1 sessions and therapeutic interventions such as clubs or activity days and weekends.

Simon Wright, Chief Executive of Nelson’s Journey said:

“The incredible support we’ve received from Run Norwich has helped Nelson’s Journey to really grow our services for Norfolk’s bereaved children. As well as the vital funding boost, our profile in Norfolk has been lifted to new heights. It gives all of us at the charity a real boost when we see our Run Norwich race t-shirts worn by runners in the county all year round.”

Another charity to benefit was Age UK Norwich, who used the money raised from their time with Run Norwich to fund information and advice services and to support welfare rights work, allowing older people to receive the financial benefits and allowance to which they are entitled.

This work helps older people to understand any necessary correspondence, to complete required forms, and to appeal against unfavourable decisions, all of which helped to secure £1.28 million last year for older people in Norwich.

Norfolk Accident Rescue Service (NARS) provides expert medical help at the scene of road crashes and other emergencies.

The doctors and paramedics who volunteer to NARS have received extra training to provide trauma care and can administer more drugs at the scene of a crash or cardiac arrest, which is vital during the critical moments of an incident.

Paul Strutt from NARS highlighted Run Norwich’s impact on the charity:

“This is a tremendous amount of money to a small charity like NARS and will go a long way towards maintaining the life-saving service we provide.

“We are delighted to have been involved with Run Norwich for the last two years. Not only have we raised record sums of money, the events have also given us a great opportunity to publicise and raise awareness of the charity.”

In addition to the official charities, many chose to use Run Norwich as the platform to fundraise for their own causes.

A survey that was sent to all runners suggests that these independent fundraisers took the overall fundraising figure from Run Norwich 2016 to well over £200,000.