Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh (UK)

RUN TO FRANCE - Going the distance for Radio Lollipop

Radio Lollipop Edinburgh has launched a new Run to France fundraising initiative, backed by Scotland Rugby International star Scott Hastings. The challenge invites people to run, or walk, a total of 1120km (696 miles) – the distance from Edinburgh to Paris.

The challenge officially kicked off on Sunday 7th February, the same day as the Scotland vs France 6 Nations Rugby match at Murrayfield. Participants will have to clock up a total distance of 1120km in short runs across the year culminating concurrently with the 2011 France vs Scotland 6 Nations game in Paris. The idea for the fundraising initiative came from two fathers with young families who like to keep fit by setting running challenges throughout the year while raising money for charity. For this year's challenge, David Lewis and William Fairhurst will help raise funds for Radio Lollipop.

A dedicated Run to France campaign website (http://www.runtofrance.com) is available where people will be able to learn more about the challenge including being able to track Scott, David and Will's progress and find out how to donate to the cause. Anybody wishing to join the Run to France challenge can find out how through the website and will be re-directed to the Run to France dedicated webpage on Nike Plus. People can also keep up-to-date- with the developments of the challenge through the Run to France Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/runtofrance) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/runtofrance) pages.

The Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor hotel is backing the challenge and will be supporting Radio Lollipop throughout 2010 through their Hilton in the Community Foundation fundraising.
Steven Hall, General Manager, Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor said:
“Our Hilton in the Community Foundation work is an important aspect of our hotel philosophy and hopefully this year through the Foundation we can help Radio Lollipop to make a difference to many children's lives.”
Scott Hastings thinks Run to France will be a tremendous activity for people to take part in:
"I am happy to support the Run to France for Radio Lollipop challenge. I am a regular runner and will now be monitoring my weekly mileage in support of this great initiative. Whilst I would love to visit Paris in the next year, the beauty of this particular challenge is that you just have to log your equivalent miles from Edinburgh to Paris without setting foot in the French capital!"

Photograph: Gina Easton, Age 14, with Scott Hastings

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