Refugee Week Fun Run raises over £2000 for Breadwinners!

I am Adie and volunteered as a mentor for the most recent cohort of Risers. I got involved because I had a bit of spare time of my hands and having graduated university and applied for so many jobs, I wanted to use this new-found knowledge to help other young people with the UK Job Market - which is where I came across Breadwinners! As part of Breadwinners, I supported a young man in his development at the market stalls and through his employment training. Watching his confidence and English abilities grow was so incredible.

The Breadwinners family hit the streets on Sunday 21st June to take part in our very-own virtual fun run, to celebrate Refugee Week. The #SimpleActs campaign, launched by Refugee Week UK, encouraged everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections with our community. Our Simple Act was walking and running.    

Following the cancellation of the annual Hackney 5km and Half Marathon, the team devised the plan for a virtual run, where participants could join on video-call in their local park. Forty people signed up for the 5 km run and some dared to take on the challenge of a half-marathon. With this being a virtual run, we had runners joining from across the globe, from London to Yorkshire in the UK, San Sebastian to Barcelona in Spain and even further afield - Australia to Argentina! 

Elias, a graduate from the Risers Programme, led us through a warm-up and Ruth, an online sales rep, did the MC-ing to motivate and encourage runners, cheering them on to the finish-line. Each participant contributed a feel-good song for a group playlist to keep spirits up and legs moving during the run. 

I wanted to run a half marathon to raise funds and awareness for Breadwinners. It was especially important to raise awareness of the new bread delivery system that has been developed, during the pandemic. Also, I was excited to see the other members of the breadwinners community and see their smiling faces on the screen.

Not only did this run bring together our community and get our bodies moving, but the efforts raised an incredible £2007, at time of this blog posting! We would like to thank every one of our supporters, whether you shared a post about Breadwinners or donated some money. If you would have not yet donated, and would like to support further, the link is still live and will be open until Friday! GoFundMe Breadwinners 

I think we often forget how young some of these refugees are and at what stage of their life they are at, because they have often come such a long way and have encountered things beyond our imagination. Giving them a helping hand to start looking towards the future is so important because finishing school and looking towards your next steps can be intimidating in your own country, never mind a brand new country. Volunteering for Breadwinners is amazing - when you mentor a Riser, watching them grow in confidence is one of the best things. Not only that, but you get to join a family and a community with all the other volunteers and participants.

If you would like to see what other amazing activities were going on during Refugee Week, visit their website https://refugeeweek.org.uk/