 |  |  | | | BANANA ARMY HITS £3MILLION TARGET THANKS TO BUPA | | | | |
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Release Date: 17th October 2005
Leukaemia Research, the UK’s leading blood cancer charity, has raised over £3million from the Great Run Series after a successful five-year partnership with healthcare giants BUPA.
Over 2,000 runners from the charity’s running team, the ‘Banana Army’, marked the end of the successful partnership with BUPA when they took on the 10-mile BUPA Great South Run in Portsmouth on Sunday 9th October. They are expected to have raised over £100,000 from the event, taking the total raised from the partnership well over the massive £3 million mark.
Over the last five years, Leukaemia Research has been the official charity for BUPA in the Great Run series, which includes the Great Caledonian Run in Scotland, Great Manchester Run and the Great North Run in Newcastle. This year was the fifth and final year of the charity partnership with BUPA, which has seen over 40,000 members of the ‘Banana Army’ appear at leading running events across the UK.
“The BUPA Great Run series has been a key part of our fundraising efforts over the last five years, during which time the TVTimes and Asics sponsored team has gone from strength to strength,” says Leukaemia Research Director of Fundraising Cathy Gilman. “The partnership has enabled us to build the reputation of our Banana Army of runners to be one of the biggest and best charity running teams in the UK.
“To hit the £3 million mark is a great achievement and one made possible thanks to BUPA’s support over the years and to our fundraisers, who have both shown a vital commitment to helping us in our aims to find cures and treatments for all types of blood cancers. Every mile each runner has run has helped give hope to thousands of sufferers and families throughout the UK.”
The TVTimes and Asics sponsored team includes some of the UK’s best-loved TV and film personalities, including cast members from the ITV soap ‘Emmerdale’, ex-Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston and former 10,000m world champion Liz McColgan, who is also the patron of the charity’s running team.
“We have had a fantastic relationship over the past five years with Leukaemia Research and their infamous Banana Army. We wish them the very best of luck fundraising for the future,” says Simon Sheard, Group Marketing Director at BUPA.
For more information on the Banana Army and for details of how to join of one the UK’s largest celebrity-packed charity running teams, log on to www.banana-army.com
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