West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street
Mayor Andy Street and a team from West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) set to run the Great Birmingham Run on behalf of Cure Leukaemia on May 01.
Having urged residents and businesses to ‘Get Set for the Games’ ahead of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as more than a million visitors are expected to come to the West Midlands – Mayor of West Midlands Andy Street will be lacing up his running shoes this May, as he looks to raise funds for Cure Leukaemia at the Great Birmingham Run in May.
Heading up a team of 20 keen runners from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), they will join more than 10,000 runners on the start line of two of the Midlands most popular running events, the Great Birmingham Run & Birmingham 10k.
Having previously ran for Cure Leukaemia in 2017, Mr Street is appealing for other West Midlands-based organisation to join him and his colleagues and will also be hoping his team can come out on top in the Business Challenge, which sees prizes awarded to the top three teams in each category (male, female and mixed team).
Mr Street and the team at WMCA are taking on the run to raise vital funds and awareness for national blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia, which supports research nurses within a network of 12 blood cancer centres across the United Kingdom, which form the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP).
The TAP network, which is run and co-ordinated by its hub situated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, allows the rapid assessment of highly promising and pioneering new treatments for blood cancer through clinical trials. These clinical trials can only run and give patients potentially life-saving options thanks to the positions Cure Leukaemia are funding at these centres.
Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “I am really pleased to be supporting Cure Leukaemia at the upcoming Great Birmingham Run this summer. The pioneering work Cure Leukaemia does, led by Birmingham-based Professor Charlie Craddock CBE, is not only benefiting patients across our great region but also right across the country.
“In what is sure to be a mega year of sport here in the West Midlands, I would encourage our local businesses to join me on the start line and help raise funds for this fantastic charity engaging in lifesaving work on our very doorstep.”
Ian Reid, CEO of Birmingham 2022, said: “It is great to see Andy and so many of his colleagues taking part in the Great Birmingham Run and supporting Cure Leukaemia, a wonderful and important charity.
“Good luck to everyone taking part in the event. We’ll be watching with interest as we countdown to staging the Commonwealth Games this summer, which includes the Marathon and Para Marathon when athletes will once again take to the streets of the city.”
James McLaughlin, Chief Executive of Cure Leukaemia, said “We are thrilled and very proud that Andy Street has once again chosen to run the Great Birmingham Run on behalf of Cure Leukaemia. He has been a great supporter of our charity and the work that we do, so it is great to hear that he will be supporting us once more!”
“In such a special sporting year for the region, we would love to see more businesses wearing our Cure Leukaemia colours for the event in our home city. If you think you can beat Andy and the WMCA, now is your chance to prove it!”
