A team of sixty local runners from the Chew Valley area are set to tackle the London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday, 2nd April, 2023 in a bid to raise vital funds for The Harvey Hext Trust, who support bereaved children.

Sarah Hext, who founded The Harvey Hext Trust in 2016 after losing her son Harvey to cancer, started running in 2006 with the Chew Valley Snails to support her mental health, and with #Teamharvey will run 13.1 miles through central London alongside 16,000 other participants.

Sarah said: “It’s such a fantastic cause, and I am so passionate about, helping bereaved children when they need it most, supporting their ongoing mental health is vital.

“To have fifty nine other local runners all raising funds for the charity is both incredible and humbling. The London Landmarks Half Marathon is an all-round fabulous experience, but running 13.1 miles is a long way! It’s an enormous challenge for most of the participants and we have ages ranging from nineteen-years-old to runners in their mid sixties. We are so grateful for every single one of them.

“We hope to reach our target of £18,000, giving us enough funds to support almost one hundred bereaved children”.

Lia Fyles, Race Director, said: “The London Landmarks Half Marathon was born in 2014 and was created to bring together as many charities as possible to raise much needed funds”.

The London Landmarks Half Marathon route showcases ‘The Grand. The Quirky. The Hidden.’ of central London. It is the only half marathon to go through both the City of London and Westminster and aims to raise £6.5 million for charity. There will also be music, DJs, dance acts and charity cheer stations giving runners a boost throughout the race.

The Harvey Hext Trust provides specialist bespoke wooden memory boxes for bereaved children. Memory boxes promote positive mental health in children by offering a safe environment for them to explore their emotions.

Sarah continued: “We want to help children to understand they are not alone in their grief and eventually to be able to celebrate the life of the person who has died and smile when they think of them.

“We have supported hundreds of children and with your help we will continue to offer our vital gift service.”

If you would like to support #Teamharvey please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/harveyhextlondonlandmarks2023.