Running for rough sleepers: Please back our charity run
Our 16:15 Charity Run returns for a third year with the aim of raising money for and awareness of rough sleeping and homelessness
The frost sparkles on car windscreens and crunches underfoot, but I’m undeterred.
A snood creeps around my neck, a bobble hat is perched on my head and I have gloves on my hands. This is winter running.
As I set off, despite having completed as energetic a warm-up as the early morning has allowed, I’m still cold.
But I know that within a mile or two, I’ll feel warmer. The winter sun will find its way through to my bones. A warm shower awaits me at home.
And, after all, this is something I chose to do.
None of these things apply to rough sleepers. Those poor souls for whom the freezing conditions of a British winter simply represent the temperature of what they call their homes.
They cannot afford to burn off vital energy running around to keep warm. There is no warm shower or central heating waiting for them; only the prospect of colder temperatures as night draws in.
On Saturday, April 12, the third annual 16:15 Charity Run is set to take place.
Organised by Running Tales and Step Forward With Lewis, the event will aim to raise money to help those less fortunate than the majority of us who have a roof over our heads and food to eat.
All funds raised will go to Northampton rough sleeper charity Project 16:15, which works to maintain dignity for those on our streets.
Over the past two years, we have raised several thousand pounds for the charity with events in 2023 and 2024 taking place over six hours and allowing those taking part to run for as little or as much of that time as they want.
This year, we will be holding a 10k event so people can finish at roughly the same time, ahead of a presentation ceremony.
Entrants are asked to fundraise at least £25, or give a donation, to take part with any money raised going to Project 16:15. People can enter on the day.
There will be an aid station with food and drinks provided by Project 16:15.
The 16:15 Charity Run is not be a race, and there will be no winner. Instead, it will be a chance to run with friends, chat and think about those who are less fortunate than we are.
Hopefully, it won’t be too cold!
About Project 16:15 - a lifeline in the storm of poverty:
Rough sleeping and homelessness have always been a very personal issue for Stan Robertson.
The founder of Northampton-based rough sleeper charity, Project 16:15, has been through the cycle of addiction.
He lived on the street and spent time in prison before finding his own value in the Christian faith.
It was a conversion that eventually resulted in Stan forming Project 16:15 in 2017, just in time to face the Beast from the East cold snap six months later.
Stan told Running Tales that the project is based on his belief everyone has equal value.
“The guys and girls sleeping rough have the same worth and humanity as I have, as anyone has,” he added.
“Project 16:15 started to deliver to people what I felt was missing on the streets: dignity, self-respect, value and worth.
“People on the streets didn’t understand they were worth anything. Their lives were focused daily on their situation and their circumstance.
“I wanted to give them a reason to wake up and to be more than they were.”
At first, Stan delivered bacon rolls and coffee to rough sleepers via a rucksack. Over the years, he has graduated to a trolley and eventually a small fleet of vehicles.
His ethos, though, remains the same.
“People need company and conversation. They need to be given the time and value they deserve,” he said.
“Project 16:15 has become an all-round welfare service, seven-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year.”
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