On the 20th March 2016, the annual Fleet Half Marathon will take place and it is celebrating a very special birthday – 35 years of the event.

The run is the biggest sporting event in Fleet and over the years hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised for both National and Local charities by the runners taking part. It is organised by Fleet & Crookham AC who are themselves a registered charity, raising funds to help develop running and athletics in the town.

But the organising committee of the 2016 event also wanted to support the Arise All Saints campaign after the tragic fire in the summer of 2015. Race Director Penny Abbott said “… it seemed most appropriate in 2016 to support the efforts of Arise All Saints to restore the church to its former state but also support the development of All Saints as a community building to be used for other things as well as religious worship. Our running event is at the heart of the community and the future varied uses of All Saints will also be at the heart of the community.”

We are, of course, very pleased that Arise All Saints has been chosen in this way, and grateful to Penny and her team for all the support they have already given us. We will have a team of 12 runners who are directly raising money for us through sponsorship – any of them would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to support their individual efforts:

Amy Diver https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/amydiver1
Bethan Holt
Caroline Leppard
Chris Jones https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/christopherjones1
Clare Burchett
Dave Hart https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/davidhart3
Linda Tyler https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/lindatyler2
Lindsay Blackburn https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/lindsaystuartsarah
Nick Cole https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/nickcole2
Nick Doran https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/nickdoran
Philip Terry
Richard Howard https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/richardhoward2
Richard Sanderson
Sarah Williamson https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/lindsaystuartsarah
Stuart Williamson https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/lindsaystuartsarah

Many other runners in the event have also expressed interest and have been sent information about All Saints.

On race day we will have a stand in Calthorpe Park where people can find out more about our progress and plans for All Saints and, hopefully, make donations too. We will also be helping the organisers by manning a water station in Elvetham Road. This is Palm Sunday, but it is also a unique opportunity to raise our profile at a major community event and we really need volunteers to assist both in Calthorpe Park and Elvetham Road. It will be a fun day whatever the weather, so if you would like to help please contact either Nick Doran (nick.doran@btinternet.com) or Claire Holt (clholt@ntlworld.com) or the Parish Office.

Nick Doran

On the 20th March 2016, the annual Fleet Half Marathon will take place and is celebrating a very special birthday – 35 years of the event.  The run is the biggest sporting event in Fleet and over the years hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised for both National and Local charities by the runners taking part.

The run, organised by Fleet & Crookham AC, who themselves are a registered charity, also raises vital funds to help develop running and athletics in the town. But the organising committee of the 2016 event also wanted to support the Arise All Saints campaign after the tragic fire in the summer of 2015.

Race Director Penny Abbott says “The race has always supported the national charity Bloodwise (formally Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research) since it started in 1982, but the last few years we have also been associated to a local charity as well as supporting  all of the community groups which help with volunteers on the day. It seemed most appropriate in 2016 to support the efforts of Arise All Saints to restore the church to it former state but also support the development of All Saints as a community building to be used for other things as well as religious worship.  Our running event is at the heart of the community and the future varied uses of All Saints will also be at the heart of the community.
10 places were donated to the church to give to supporters to run for sponsorship and also all runners are given the option to tick for more information on how they could get involved in the campaign/raise sponsor monies.

All Saints will also have a presence on the day within Calthorpe Park where residents can find out more about the plans and donate to the cause should they wish to.

The Fleet Half Marathon has always brought the residents of Fleet and the surrounding villages out in support.  It is a fantastic day when the town can really come together and this year there will be another local reason to support it.  So many communities have lost the ability to come together for annual events, but Fleet still does and long may it continue”.

For more information and to enter the race, visit the  Fleet Half Marathon website but don’t leave it too long, places are filling up very fast.