Fundraising for the Salvation Army in British 10K London Run

Sunday 3rd July 2005 will see the award-winning garden designer and TV presenter Chris Beardshaw running on the streets of London along with 20,000 other runners, to raise fund for the Salvation Army to support its social service work across the UK and Ireland.

"It’s great to have the opportunity to work towards a goal and there’s nothing like the prospect of running 10K to focus the mind!" commented Chris. "I used to train and run for the county but that’s more years ago than I care to remember. Doing the run for the Salvation Army will certainly be a great experience and a good opportunity to raise money for such a worthwhile cause."

This is in fact the first time the Salvation Army has become one of the official charities for the British 10K race. Major Bill Cochrane of The Salvation Army expressed a great pleasure and said, "We hope lots of people will run on our behalf and raise thousands of pounds to support our social work here in the UK and Ireland. The link with the VE Day celebrations is particularly relevant due to the role The Salvation Army played during the war, supporting both troops and civilians."

This year is the 5th Anniversary of the British 10k London Run, and marks the 60th Anniversary of VE Day. The service organisations are joining forces to lead a special VE team to run in the race and the Salvation Army is part of the 14-member team.

The other service organisations in the team include Royal Air Forces Association, The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, Veterans Supports UK, the Fisherman’s Mission and among others.

Chris Beardshaw, part of the Salvation Army team, is a familiar face on the TV screens presenting numerous gardening shows such as Gardener’s World, The Flying Gardener, Hidden Gardens, and current Channel 4 show The Great Garden Challenge.

The money raised by runners will help to fund Salvation Army residential centres for homeless people, care homes for the elderly, family centres and facilities for people with drug and alcohol addictions, as well as projects run at over 750 local church and community centres.