On Saturday 23rd April, an amazing bunch of runners woke up with an exciting plan: today, they were going to Run for the Trees and fundraise to help us celebrate World Earth Day and get some more trees in the ground in Kenya.
We’ve still got donations coming in but it’s clear we’re going to get at least 120 trees planted. They’ll absorb 30 tonnes of CO2 in 5-7 years and their bountiful food, fruit and nut harvests will alleviate hunger and poverty – thank you all!
Run for the Trees was Word Forest’s first fundraiser inviting public engagement since the pandemic befell us all, silencing critical charity fundraisers everywhere.
Run for the Trees invited participants to do a 5k fun run, jog or walk. We knew there was going to be a fabulous field of runners from Vegan Runners with us at Hyde Park in London. They were joined remotely by runners up and down the UK and in other countries too, all doing 5k in their neighbourhoods and local gyms.
Our co-founders, Tracey and Simon West and Connor McDonald our amazing Sports Impact colleague, were in Hyde Park and it was a spectacular footprint event! Connor, did a remarkable job leading the way, planning the event and combining it with the launch of our Sports Climate Alliance (more on that coming soon).
Connor exclaimed: “It was fantastic to kick off our first event with a run through beautiful Hyde Park. We had a keen group show up with the majority coming from the Vegan Runners community, who also helped with the organising of the day. There was a great sense of community within this new group. As we were running, everyone was chatting and getting to know each other which is exactly what we wanted to see. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part, both in Hyde Park and around the globe. You all contributed to creating a healthier planet. We will be holding a Sports Climate Alliance Run Club on the last weekend of each month and we’ll look forward to seeing you there!”
Tracey adds: “The weather was perfect, the venue was perfect and runners were so inspiring to be around! We even had one incredible woman run almost 10 miles to Hyde Park from Walthamstow before she started her 5k! We’re so grateful to everyone who took part today – these folks ‘get’ the urgency for action. I’ve drawn strength from their passion for the planet.”
Simon concluded: “I had profound conversations about how the health of our planet is affecting sport in a negative way with extreme weather occurrences and how sport could affect the health of our planet in a positive way if we drawdown and lock large amounts of CO2 in our trees in Kenya. It’s all interlinked! Today was amazing and Connor really was the driving force behind it. How blessed we are to have so many supporters playing for Mother Nature’s Team!”
Sportingly yours,
Tracey and The Team
