In this section:
This year, why not enjoy a day out at a National Gardens Scheme garden - you'll be helping fund the QNI too!
Providing vital funding for projects that help improve patient care.
Visit our nursing heritage website, a celebration of District Nursing around the world since 1859.
London 10k Run 2012
Some of the runners (and cheerers!) on the day
As part of our 125th anniversary celebrations, we took part in the British 10k London run on 8th July - for the last time! - with seven runners raising thousands of pounds for our ‘Right Nurse, Right Skills’ campaign.
The runners, who joined 25,000 other runners, most of whom were also running for charity, included Queen’s Nurses, student community nurses and an Olympian cyclist. Two of these were running for the charity for the 4th year running.
‘The runners did incredibly well, ‘said Matthew Bradby, the QNI’s Communications Manager, ‘Especially considering the awful wet weather! It didn’t seem to stop them from having a good time though. We’re very grateful to them all, their support will mean a great deal for our crucial campaign.'
Here's what some of the runners had to say about the day:
Marie Hudson: 'The run was amazing - the route was pretty level (a joy when you are used to running around hilly Cornwall), the crowd uplifting and the views of our great capital city fantastic. I particularly enjoyed the company of the other QN's Elaine at the start and Dee who was with me for the finish. I look forward to doing it again!'
Jill Gould: ‘The British London 10k run this year was brilliant, it felt like taking part in a historic event. Marking the Queen’s jubilee and the start of the Olympics, there was a real celebratory atmosphere and it felt very welcoming and well supported. The event itself is changing, with mainly black ‘race sponsor’ shirts worn, so it put a smile on my face to be one of a few runners proudly displaying the bright distinctive QNI colours.’
Sue Foster: 'A wet Sunday morning in a crowd of 25K, I felt proud to be running for the QNI. Wearing my pink tshirt with the letters QNI, this generated many questions whilst waiting in the queue to start running. It was a good opportunity to meet fellow Queen's Nurses and promote the QNI especially in this Jubilee year. The support from the QNI team cheering us on and our families made it an event to remember.'
Elaine Tabony: 'Thank you to the QNI for asking me to join this run. I have never raced before let alone run 10k. The training programme was easy to follow and I really did get fit enough in 8 weeks. Apart from the odd twinge in my calves walking downstairs today I feel great, so I must have reached the right level of fitness with this training programme. I would recommend it to anyone. I feel a sense of achievement not only in completing the race but improving my personal fitness. I can't believe how much it rained, we were soaked before we started! I think it was worse for the fantastic supporters than the runners as the rain kept the runners cool! Despite the British weather it was a great day and made me feel proud to be a Queen's Nurse!'
Edwin Chamanga: 'Running for the QNI for the past four years has always been a priviledge and it's fantastic! Now that 2012 is its last year I will surely miss it!'
Sally Christie: 'I made a trip from Leeds especially to run for the QNI, as a few months earlier I had become a QN and wanted the opportunity to meet 5 fellow QNs and raise a little for the Institute. Unfortunately, due to the sheer volume of runners, I never managed to see the other ladies. Hello there! Hope you enjoyed it. Nice to chat briefly to Joanna and Matthew though. However, despite that, the rain, and it taking an hour to get to the actual starting point, I was very pleased to see (and humbled by) the new sculpture memorial for the World War 2 Bomber Command Crew to remember the 55,573 airmen who lost their lives. Running over the Thames towards the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben to chimes of Westminster, amongst all those other soggy people running for hundreds of charities, was marvellous. I completed it in 55 mins 23 secs (which was 3 mins off my previous time 3 years ago) so I was a happy QN! Thank you for this memorable experience.'
There's still time to sponsor one of our runners, see below for their justgiving pages.
Edwin Chamanga
Elaine Tabony
Marie Hudson
Jill Gould
To see a short video made by one of our runners, Jill Gould, about the event, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8fE5vOkfbE
Thank you so much to all of you who took part in this year's (and the last years') run! We really appreciate all of your support!
A big thank you to our 10k run sponsors: CitySprint, Clean Space, Direct Tec and Rathbones.
Campaigning for nurses
