Running for Robbie the Robot: Conference Team report from the Reading half Marathon

By Marius Marisca, Conference Team Member

While organising this year’s Annual ABP Conference, the committee wanted to keep the tradition of giving something back.

The charity

Each year, the Conference Team nominates a local charity to support, and this year they decided to raise money for the ‘Robbie the Robot’ Appeal.  Set up by Royal Berkshire Hospital, the appeal is raising funds for a da Vinci robot, which has saved lives and transformed cancer-related operations.

Whilst currently on loan, the hospital must raise £1 million over three years to be able to keep “Robbie”, and they need as much help as possible to meet this target.

Wind, rain and hail

To help raise funds the team decided to run the Reading Half-Marathon, which took place on Sunday 17th March 2013. Five members of the Conference Team, including Conference Dean Dilip Boury, signed up and set themselves a target of £700.

On the day, supported by fellow members, co-workers and family, the team fought through the wind, rain and hail to complete the run.  When asked about the how the half-marathon went, and if he would do it again, one of the five runners responded:

“Not only did we manage to raise money for a worthy cause but we actually beat our target. Even though it was a Half-Marathon it was a fun run, 2 of us ran half of it and the other two ran the other half, while our “leader” ran the entire thing.

It was an amazing experience, because it was raining all day and it just made you realise that you’re doing it for something worthwhile. Plus we all ended with a burger and a pint. So yes, I would definitely do it again. Also we decided not to stop at that and see if we can raise more money, we haven’t discussed how yet, but it will definitely be at the conference.”

Smashing the target: £790 raised so far

The five members of the Conference Team did an amazing job, not only by running the half-marathon on the day, but also in their fundraising efforts before and after the event.  By the end of the run, they not only managed achieve the target, but actually beat it all together by raising a staggering £790 – nearly £100 over target.

Fund raising activities continue… Help us get to £1000

Raising nearly £800 has already exceeded the Conference Teams wildest expectations.  However, with their fund raising appetites whetted, the Team have now set themselves an even more ambitious target of raising £1000 by the end of the October.

To meet this target, the Team are eagerly planning additional fund raising activities for during the Annual ABP Conference, taking place 3rd-5th October, at Wokefield Park, Reading.  During this event, the Team will be encouraging all attendees to participate and help the team raise the remaining £200.

How you can help… donate now

In the meantime, the ABP Conference 2013 Just Giving page is still live and set up to take online donations.  Please help us continue to raise money for this important charity, and take Royal Berkshire Hospital one step closer to keeping Robbie the Robot.