Supporter Spotlight - Mark

Did you know? 1 in 7 babies born in the UK each year are admitted to a neonatal unit.

Mark Hayes has been an avid supporter of New Life for the past eight years.  A grandad himself, the work that New Life does is very close to his heart. "My first grandchild had some problems arriving into this world and I realised how much we take for granted that the equipment needed for premature and very sick babies would be there in the hospital."

Mark loves running and often runs on Greenham Common. It was on one his runs that the idea of organising a charity run came to him. "Being a runner and having competed in, and volunteering in many of these events over many years, it's always been something I wanted to get into" explained Mark. "Every time I ran up on the common, I always thought to myself, what a great location it would be to hold a running event."

The idea then turned into a reality!  Mark pulled together a committee and dedicated team and organisedd the first ever Greenham Common Half Marathon and 10K event.  He initially hoped for around 200 runners but as word got round, the numbers swelled until a final cap had to be taken at 500.  Runners signed up from across the Thames Valley, hoping to make the biggest splash of purple the Common had ever seen.

The event raised money for a new ventilator for The Buscot (neonatal) Unit at The Royal Berks Hospital in Reading which would be purchased by New Life.  At a cost of £30,000, the money raised from the running event went a long way to supporting this purchase.

"I feel privileged" said Mark, "every time I go for a run that I am fit and able to do so, and I love not only giving something back to fellow runners, but raising money for a great charity at the same time is a win ,win."

Mark is planning the Half Marathon and 10K to be an annual event.