What a day we had last Sunday. On a beautiful sunny day, the centre of Manchester greeted thousands of people all there for one reason – to take on the Great Manchester Run 10k and Half Marathon.

Mustard Tree had 17 committed individuals, including three staff, and over 70 people from corporate partners across the city running for us. Beever and Struthers even kindly provided their offices for a meeting place – all important to calm those last-minute nerves.

Walking some of our runners down to the start line and seeing them go off to the sound of the starting gun, the atmosphere was absolutely incredible, seeing so many people in Mustard Tree red taking on the heat and the pain to raise vital funds to combat poverty and prevent homelessness. We know we’ve got fantastic supporters but to see them out in force was very special. After an emotional year for the city, and a big year still ahead for the charity, it felt like a fitting celebration.

Just from our individuals on Team Mustard alone, we raised over £4000 with money still coming in, so thankyou so much to the runners and everyone who donated towards this amazing total!

Mia, one of our brilliant runners said afterwards “it couldn’t have been better! I’m definitely going to do it again, hopefully for you guys! I actually really enjoyed it”.

We hope to have even more runners join us next year! If you fancy a challenge of your own, it

is the season to sign up to something totally new. Could you take on a challenge event for Mustard Tree? How about Tough Mudder, the Salford Tri or if you’re feeling really brave – the Manchester Half Marathon in October? We do have charity places available so please get in touch on with our fundraiser Rachel on Rachel.trafford@mustardtree.org.uk .