Gym staff to run 16 miles from Portsmouth to Chichester for festive fundraiser

Chris Hall, Grace Greenshields, Barney Hitchcock and George Briance are lacing up their trainers and donning their Santa hats for a 16.8 mile run from the Gym Group Portsmouth to the Gym Group Chichester on Portfield Way, after weeks of preparation.

The team are still collecting funds, but have already raised more than £150 for NHS Charities Together and hope to raise more. To find out more and donate, visit their Justgiving page. Eager runners might who want to join Santa’s favourite fundraisers on their route are also invited to do so, but have been asked to contact a Gym Group member of staff ahead of time for further information.

It’s all in aid of NHS Charities Together, which distributes much-needed funds to a range of good causes in, around and associated with the NHS, and organisers hope it will help inspire communities in both Chichester and Portsmouth to get fitter, together in the new year.

The team will be setting off from The Gym Group Portsmouth at 8.30am, and hope to reach the Chichester gym by 11.30am, where friends, family and supporters will be ready and waiting for them.

"We decided to pick a run because an NHS nurse takes approximately ten thousand steps on an average shift and this seemed like an appropriate way to reflect that,” said Alix Harvey, the assistant general manager at the gym group in Chichester.”