Marathon effort to help the homeless

A team of five colleagues from Boston's homeless charity are preparing to take on a marathon challenge to raise funds for the organisation.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Apr 2016, 10:00 BST
Centrepoint Outreach's Liz Hopkins, Claire Morris and Liz Steadman are to run the Boston Marathon to raise cash for the homeless charity.Centrepoint Outreach's Liz Hopkins, Claire Morris and Liz Steadman are to run the Boston Marathon to raise cash for the homeless charity.
Centrepoint Outreach's Liz Hopkins, Claire Morris and Liz Steadman are to run the Boston Marathon to raise cash for the homeless charity.

The quintet are now limbering up for the Boston Relay Half Marathon on April 17 –with hopes of raising £1,500.

The charity’s chief executive, Liz Hopkins, is pounding the pavements for the first time, being a ‘complete novice’ in running and sport.

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“This is a real challenge for me,” she said. “I’ve managed to avoid running anywhere for most of my life, so I’ve had to take on a ‘coach to 5k’ challenge to try to prepare.”

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Liz will be joined for the relay by Centrepoint Outreach’s shop manager Claire Morris, project worker Liz Steadman, the charity’s van driver Paul Steadman and chairman Richard Locke-Wheaton.

The team will split the relay – equating to about 2.6 miles for each leg.

Currently, the charity is helping 43 homeless people living on the streets of Boston.

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“When I’ve been running around the streets training, it really hits home that some people live out here,” said Liz Hopkins.

“You think to yourself that you’re lucky you don’t have to sleep on the streets and can go home and have a warm shower. These are things we often take for granted.”

She added: “It drives us on to keep running, thinking about some of our clients who are homeless. It reminds us all why we are doing it.”

l To offer sponsorship to the Centrepoint Outreach team, go to mydonate.bt.com/events/cpohalfmarathon.