10k for Nurses sprang from an online chat earlier this year between Paul and Teresa Chinn, founder of the We Communities Twitter group that supports Cavell Nurses’ Trust. The initiative encourages people to help the nurses’ trust raise £10k in the tenth month of the year by doing a 10k challenge – this could be anything from a 10k skydive to baking and selling 10,000 calories.
Cavell Nurses’ Trust was set up in honour of Edith Cavell who was a British nurse during the First World War. Edith saved the lives of soldiers from both sides without distinction and helped over 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. The trust supports UK nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants with financial support when they are living through hardship, often because of illness, domestic abuse, disability, poverty and older age.
Paul, who is UHMBT’s lead for mental health, said: “We were talking about the possibility of applying to run in the London Marathon and the idea of running 10K for Nurses began to take form, which evolved into anything 10k. So for example there’s a chap from Sheffield who is bouncing 10k times on a space hopper while someone else is baking 10k worth of calories! “I only started running about a year ago but it really is great for your health, your mind and body. I would encourage everyone to come on board and set yourself your own 10k challenge to raise money for a really great cause. Flourish at work the UHMBT staff health and wellbeing initiative is running the very successful Couch to 5K programme and I started out on the same programme six months ago, I would recommend it to all of my colleagues, lace up your running shoes and get on board it’s amazing where it might take you!”
Staff across the Trust will also be taking part in the 10k initiative. Sue Lee, Sister, UHMBT, and staff from Ward 34 and 36 at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary will do a walk in the Lake District in the middle of October. Amanda Harvey, Clinical Skills Educator, UHMBT, and staff from Clinical Skills, ITU, I3 and Research and Development will be doing a walk across the Duddon Estuary in Cumbria on 7 October. Sue said: “This is a really good cause and I cannot think of a better way to raise money than being out and about in the lovely countryside around us.” Amanda added: “Our team are really looking forward to supporting this national event.”
Sue Smith, Executive Chief Nurse, said: “It is so inspiring that so many members of staff are taking part in this fantastic initiative.”
You can sign up to 10k for Nurses at https://www.cavellnursestrust.org/campaign/10kfornurses
When you sign up you will get a free t-shirt and a fundraising pack.
To support Paul’s 10k run go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-jebb5?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweetfeed&utm_campaign=mypages