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After last year's successful Fun Run event, I am delighted to announce that once again there will be a Fun Run on Chafford Hundred and we will be continuing our support for the Ryan Cassar Appeal*.

More than 170 people took part last year and nearly £3,000 was raised for the appeal. As we had such a tremendous response for last year's race, we have allocated extra spaces this year so we will be able to accommodate more runners.

The run is still 5K, however, the route is slightly different from last year; with the kind generosity from the team at Essex Wildlife Trust, the race will commence and finish at the Essex Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre , Drake Road.

All levels of runners and walkers are encouraged to participate in the Fun Run (minimum age for entry is 12; but under-16s must be accompanied by an adult and gain their parents consent on their registration form).

All proceeds from the run will go directly to the Ryan Cassar Appeal; the Appeal was set up in memory of Ryan Cassar, a 12-year-old boy who tragically died from severe head injuries after being hit by a car in Chafford Hundred in January 2006.

Ryan was treated at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and his family is now doing all they can to raise £200,000 for a mobile cat scanner for the hospital's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), in the hope that it may help other children who suffer similar injuries.

Although the entry fees (Entry Forms available on the Race Details page) for the race helps raise some money after the costs of putting on the event, it's the sponsorship raised by runners that will really make the difference. So we hope that every person taking part will try to raise as much as they can to help the appeal (but obviously you are under no obligation to do so). If you would like to raise sponsorship, you can download a sponsorship form on the Race Details page.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday 16th March 2008.

Happy training!

Belinda Lowe

On behalf of the Fun Run team