Suffolk Food Hall staff raise over £1,200 by running almost seven marathons in seven days

The Suffolk Food Hall Team and Suffolk Mind Chief Executive Jon Neal Picture: JODIE GOOLDING (Image: Archant)

By running every day for seven days staff at the foodhall raised £1,268.84 for Suffolk Mind.

Seven members of the team ran the distance on a treadmill in the exit lobby at the Food Hall in Wherstead.

Craig Bullard, event coordinator and butchery supervisor, organised the challenge: “It was a fantastic effort from everyone: the runners, the shop floor team promoting and supporting co-workers and all the customers who donated and motivated us throughout our event.

“The target was to raise as much money as possible, and I am so chuffed with our final figure and more importantly, raising awareness of the significance of Suffolk Mind in our county.

“The idea of running 24 miles a day, 7 days a week was to try and emphasise how Suffolk Mind is working 24/7, helping individuals and groups across the whole spectrum of mental health. It was a way we could be there 24/7 for them.

“On a personal note, this charity means a lot to me so I’d like to thank Suffolk Food Hall for joining me in this experience to make it such a success.

“A massive thank you for all donations we received, the sound of coins or in fact notes being folded and put into the tin was the biggest motivation of all.”

Lizzy Tuthill, community fundraising coordinator for Suffolk Mind said: “We can’t thank the team at Suffolk Food Hall enough for completing such a tough challenge – nearly 7 marathons in as many days is an absolutely amazing achievement.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with Craig and the team and we are very proud of what they have achieved so far.

“We are so pleased that Suffolk Food Hall have chosen to support Suffolk Mind for the rest of the year with some new challenges and activities along the way and we look forward to building on the relationship and working together throughout 2019.

“Money raised goes towards helping Suffolk Mind to achieve our aim of making Suffolk the best place in the world for talking about and taking care of mental health. Specifically support like this enables us to subsidise our counselling services, so they are available to people who can’t afford to wait or go private, and our ecotherapy projects, that get people out and about working on allotments, learning new skills and meeting up with like-minded people.”