Bupa Great North Run Success


Congratulations to our team of runners who completed the Bupa Great North Run on Sunday 7 September. Over the past few months they’ve been hard at work raising money for Theirworld whilst finding the time for the many long training sessions needed to get ready for the 13.1 mile challenge.

Along with the support of his friends and family, one of our most loyal supporters, David Jowett, puts together a great team of runners each year. The motivated members of the team are driven by personal interests in the on-going work of our flagship health initiative, the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory. 

When Sunday came our runners defied the heat and took to the road in a fleet of colourful running jerseys, with some dressed as minions! Starting in Newcastle, the course took in the iconic Tyne Bridge, went through Gateshead, passed the famous international athletics stadium and finished in the coastal town of South Shields. Live music, on-course refreshments and thousands of cheering supporters kept our team motivated along the way. With finishing times as impressive as their costumes, the Theirworld team took the 2014 Great North Run by storm!

Among our runners was Eddie Hirst, who has constructed an even more difficult challenge to fundraise for Theirworld. Eddie has not only completed the Great North Run, but is also training to run the Snowdon Marathon in October, a full marathon over mountainous terrain and renowned as one of the hardest marathons in the UK.

Fundraising is still coming in for the Theirworld team and so far they have raised nearly £2,000 for the Jennifer Brown Research Fund,  so we want to say a big, big thank you to our team!

This fund supports our talented and dedicated team of scientists in the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory who are currently advancing a range of exciting and pioneering research projects that are making real progress towards resolving some of the life-threatening complications that can arise during pregnancy for both mothers and babies. The work in the laboratory furthers understanding of what causes early labour, how we can develop treatments to prevent it, and how we can better help treasured tiny new-borns in those first crucial hours and days after birth.

If you would like to donate please follow this link:

If you are interested in taking on the challenge for Theirworld next year, please email [email protected]  for more information.

Many thanks again to Dave Jowett, Peter Jowett, Paul Mellor, Craig Empsall, Eddie Hirst, Craig Pember, Andy Cronie, Lauren O’ Neil, Jennifer Brennan and Emily Gooder who all made up our Theirworld team. We want to say an additional thank you to Tiffany Bentley, who supported Theirworld throughout the year but unfortunately could not take part on the day.

Without this team’s hard work and dedication we could not continue to work towards making a brighter future for every child.