Four teams of local businesses, who meet regularly at a networking meeting, ran the Potters Arf Marathon 2010 in aid of Stoke-based charity, Caudwell Children.

The 15 fundraising entrepreneurs, including one charity representative dressed as ‘Banana’s The Monkey’, completed the gruelling 13.1 mile race on June 13th in relay; competing in four teams and each covering an average of three miles each.

Claire Smith, a senior account manager at Newcastle-based Best Communications, led the unlikely group of runners, she said: “Every Friday we meet at the Sir Stanley Matthews chapter of BNI to swap business referrals, and as we tuck in to our full English breakfast we realised that a physical challenge like this would probably do us good!”

The four teams comprised representatives from businesses across North Staffordshire including Mark Swann, a Director of local IT Experts UK Business IT Limited. The group meet every Friday at Trentham Gardens to share contacts and promote their own business; local charity, Caudwell Children, has been a member of the group for over 12 months.
Mrs Smith continued: “We hear stories about the amazing work the charity does every week, so when we had the opportunity to raise funds for them, we jumped at the chance. Running three miles may seem like a small challenge to some, but to some of us it is going to be really difficult.”

Caudwell Children is a national charity based in Stoke-on-Trent that provides direct donations of treatments, therapies and specialist equipment throughout the UK. To date the charity has donated over £11 million to thousands of children with over 300 different medical conditions.

The Charity is unique in that all the management and administration costs are covered by its founder and largest benefactor, John Caudwell, meaning every penny raised goes directly to the cause.

Charity CEO, Trudi Beswick, commented: “We are really proud of our fundraisers and volunteers around the country. To take on a physical challenge like this to raise money for children takes guts and determination, we are really grateful to the BNI team and wish them the best of luck.”

For more information or to support the BNI running team visit www.justgiving.com/sirstanleymatthewsbni