Following our £1000 donation to Northampton Hope Centre this April, Katie Gulliver, Strategic Land and Planning Manager in our land department, is fundraising for the charity by taking part in the Rightmove MK ‘virtual’ half marathon run.
Katie began running at the start of lockdown in 2020 and now runs regularly. After steadily improving her stamina, she decided to sign up for the half marathon as a personal challenge.
The Rightmove MK Marathon event was initially due to be held on 1st May, however this has been postponed to June due to the pandemic. Instead, Katie is running in a ‘virtual’ event that will be tracked via an app, on Saturday 8th May at the Pitsford Reservoir, which she will run round twice to reach exactly 21km.
Katie said: “The pandemic has been challenging for most people, but this would have been heightened for those who are homeless, struggling with addiction or mental health. Hope have concentrated their efforts in these areas and are trying to improve the lives of people affected by these matters. This run is an opportunity to try and give back.
“I’ve been aware of Hope for years having lived in Northamptonshire as a child. I saw that Mulberry had donated £1000 and decided this would be a good chance to increase our support.
“I have set a goal of £500 on my Just Giving page, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to achieve more! I’m not planning to put a certain time on myself and add pressure, but certainly under two hours would be the goal!”
Our £1000 donation to Hope funded its Hand-Up service for four days, helping to support those in poverty during the pandemic. The donation came as part of our 10-year anniversary campaign, in which we have committed to donating a total of £10,000 to charities and organisations local to our developments throughout 2021.
For more details on Katie’s run and to donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/halfmarathonforhope. For information on Hope, visit https://northamptonhopecentre.org.uk/ and for the Rightmove MK Marathon, go to https://mkmarathon.com/.