24-hour charity run to take place around Hereford

Starting from today, people in Hereford are set to take on a 24-hour charity run which raises funds to support those impacted by homelessness.

The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness event was started in 2019 by a group of students from the University of Manchester.

Initially held in just Manchester, participants completed 5km laps through the city for 24 hours to raise money for the Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity.

This year sees the event expanded to run across five cities, starting in Hereford, before heading to Sheffield and Birmingham in October, then to Leeds and Manchester in November.

Hereford organiser Charlie Shave is from Hereford itself and says it was a group effort to set it all up.

"A friend of mine was in the university running club and on their runs they noticed sort of an increasing homelessness crisis in Manchester," he said.

"We thought about whether there was something we could do about it and that's when we decided to put the event together.

"Every year since then it's grown to this point this year where we've got an expansion into a few new cities."

Since starting, the event has raised a total of over £100,000, (£109,721.70), funding 3,000 warm beds, meals, and full wrap-around support for those who really needed it.

In Hereford, the group relay event will see runners and walkers complete 5km laps through the city to raise money for local charity Vennture, with each lap starting and finishing at the charity's hub on Vicarage Road.

Imogen Abbott from Vennture, which helps people across Herefordshire in difficult situations, says it's vital people get such support when facing or dealing with homelessness.

"Vennture has a wide breadth in terms of what it covers but part of it is working with those who are facing homelessness," she said.

"Just because Hereford's a small city, it doesn't make it exempt from those problems you may see in the bigger cities, homelessness is still around, even if it's in the form of sofa surfing and that kind of more hidden homelessness.

"Homelessness or facing homelessness is an incredibly emotionally charged time for people, you're often meeting people when they're at rock bottom, so having that support is incredibly valuable."

The first group is due to set off at 12pm and finishes at 12pm on the 21 September.

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