Colour fun run a bright idea
HUNDREDS of islanders took part in this year’s Specsavers colour fun run.
Runners were led in a zumba-style warm-up before completing one or five laps of a 1km course around the Specsavers site at La Villiaze.
‘People are absolutely covered in different colours and this is such a fun and unique way to get messy without getting told off,’ said Specsavers co-founder Dame Mary Perkins.
‘This is a very good fundraising event and for two very worthy charities.’
Specsavers staff chose two local charities to support this year, Guernsey Mind and Les Bourgs Hospice.
‘We have a bit of a competition at work about which department can raise the most money and this fun run has been really successful,’ she said.
‘I’m sure lots of people have family members who benefit from one or both of these charities and I’m really pleased with how the event has gone.’
Tilly Beddow, 13, was the first to cross the 5km finish line.
‘I really enjoyed taking part. I didn’t really think about running to win it but I was at the front at the start so just went for it,’ she said.
‘I’ve never done the colour run before but me and my friends really liked it and would like to do it again.’
Tilly particularly enjoyed the group warm-up and throwing the coloured powder around before the race.
Executive director of Guernsey Mind Emily Litten said the charity was privileged to be a chosen beneficiary of Specsavers this year.
‘Specsavers have done so much for us already and they also do a lot of work for the community like us so it’s a great fit.’
Money donated to the charity will go to improving their community centre, which is used by different groups for wellbeing services such as training, self-help and support.
Les Bourgs Hospice fundraising administrator Trish De Carteret said it had been an amazing morning and lots of fun.
‘Huge thanks goes to Specsavers for their continued support – I love the mess and chaos of events like this and it’s great to see how many kids are involved,’ she said.
‘The hospice costs £1.2m. a year to run so this event makes a huge difference for us and is so appreciated.’
