A phenomenal group of supporters raised an impressive £6,626 for GBSS by running the London Landmarks half marathon.
It was a fantastic day, and the capital’s most iconic landmarks never looked better as 27 fundraisers took to the streets to help us save babies’ lives.
Brothers Ollie and Tom were running for their son and nephew, Louis, who contracted group B Strep infection at 18 days old.
Louis’s Mum Abbie explained: ‘He was born 5 weeks early and 18 days old when we took him to A&E because he wasn’t right, he was very lethargic and grunting. He also wasn’t feeding and was having seizures. We were transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital and Louis was in hospital for a few weeks on antibiotics. He’s now nearly two and doing wonderfully.’
Tom and Ollie found out about London Landmarks from the GBSS website and immediately volunteered for the event.
Louis’s grandmother Claire said: ‘I’m very proud of them both, they’ve trained hard and I knew they’d make it to the end!’
Tom and Ollie, who raised over £1300 for Group B Strep Support
Tom, Louis’s Uncle, was thrilled to fundraise for the charity:
“It was an honour to run the LLHM again for GBSS and not only help raise vital funds but also to display the logo on the t shirt to bring more awareness.
My inspiration is of course my little nephew Louis, but also all the other families who have been affected by Group B Strep, and to help save tiny innocent lives moving forward.
I’m very happy to have raised over £1,300 between my brother and I this year.”
He was also delighted to achieve a personal best time:
“Training went smoothly and although the run itself was very tough I beat my time from last year by 16 minutes!
I look forward to doing it all again next year!”
We will be very happy to welcome you again in 2025, Tom! Thank you both for getting involved – we could not continue our vital work without your support.
Ollie and Tom’s sister Louise (left) and mum Claire (right), and Ollie’s fiancee and Louis’s mum, Abbie (centre) cheer them on during the 13.2 mile run.
Best friends Laura and Kelly participated in the half marathon as preparation for the upcoming London Marathon on 21st April.
Laura told us: ‘The day was brilliant and the support around the course was amazing. Seeing the GBSS support crew was a definite highlight!’
They are now busy planning a fundraising quiz night to help add to their overall total.
‘We have raised £2400 so far but are hoping to raise much more!’
We would like to send our huge thanks to all of our London Landmarks runners, and our corporate partners, law firms Slater Gordon UK and Irwin Mitchell.
