Bright Time For Half Marathon

Julian Entwistle

Bright Finance’s support of the Sheffield Half Marathon has helped make the race one of the most popular events in the city.

The Chapeltown-based finance company has sponsored the previous two half marathons, with £80,000 being raised for charity since 2006.

More than £45,000 was raised from this year’s Bright Finance Sheffield Half Marathon with eight chosen charities benefiting from the cash.

This included the Myasthenia Gravis Association, RSPCA Sheffield, Macmillan Cancer Support, Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre South Yorkshire, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind and Help a Hallam Child.

Sheffield Lord Mayor Cllr Arthur Dunworth and Lady Mayoress Cllr Kathleen Chadwick attended an awards ceremony to honour the runners who made the difference.

Julian Entwistle, Managing Director of Bright Mortgages – part of the Bright Finance Group – collected a plaque along with Sheffield International Venues’ MD Steve Brailey to commemorate the significant contribution of their organisations to the event.

Julian said: "We have been pleased to provide our support for the Sheffield Half Marathon for the past two years. It is also great to see that so much money has been raised for many wonderful and well-deserving charities.

"By making this sponsorship commitment Bright Finance has demonstrated support for the civic community which mirrors the support we give to the business community through our patronage of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce."

Fiona King

Fiona King, Head of Marketing for Bright Finance was presented with a bouquet of flowers to thank her for her good ideas she generated whilst working on the half marathon project.

Margaret Lilley, Chair of the Half Marathon Organising Committee, said: "The money raised is such a massive amount and really demonstrates how much the people of Sheffield embraced the event."

Gary Clifton, Sheffield City Council’s Major Sports Event Unit Manager, was awarded the Man of Steel trophy for his contribution to the organisation of the event as the leader of the Route Management Group for five years and for designing the risk assessment system that the Sheffield Half Marathon relies on.

Anthony Kiernan, of Forres Road, Crookes, with £1,444 raised the most money whilst Emma Tinsley, John Staniforth, Sue Waterall, and Abby Worsnip made up the top five main individual sponsorship raisers.

Sheffield High School Deputy Head Simon Mozley was present at Don Valley Stadium to pick up the award for the biggest group sponsorship raisers after the girls’ school raised £1,139.50.

The 2008 Sheffield Half Marathon will take place on April 27 at Don Valley Stadium.

Posted: 19th October 2007