ONLY nine places remain if you want to take part in this Year’s BUPA London 10,000 on Sunday May 27th.
You will have a one-off opportunity to experience the Olympic course before the official athletes do and take in the sights of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey, to name but a few.
But if running is not your thing, then why not support our runners in a different way?
We have put together a corporate letter (see below) for you to send out to businesses in your area which asks them to pledge support to The Trust.
The letter tells the story of Nik Kontoyannis, the son of H R Trust founder Paul Kontoyannis, but if you want to adapt it to your own personal story, then please do so.
In order to achieve our goals of continuing to fund research and supporting patients and their families, we need to continue to raise as much money as we can so that together we can find a cure!
To use, please copy and paste:
Today’s Date
Dear
Nikolas Kontoyannis was just eight weeks old when he was diagnosed with Langerhan’s Cell Histiocytosis - a cancer-like disease which travels through the blood stream causing damage to healthy parts of the body. The possibility of death was very real and his parents were told to prepare themselves. However, against the odds and thanks to the dedication of his doctor and parents, Nikolas survived. Others have been less fortunate. Since then Nikolas’s family have devoted themselves to finding a cure for both Langerhan’s Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) and Haemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), another Histiocytosis disease.
Nikolas’s diagnosis prompted the formation of The Histiocytosis Research Trust in 1991. The Trust’s main aims are to reach out to parents and patients seeking support and advice, to fund international research projects and host Parent and Patient Road Shows. For further information, please visit our website www.hrtrust.org
Since Histiocytosis is classed as too rare to be allocated any funding from either the Government or pharmaceutical companies, we are reliant on the donations and fundraising efforts of generous individuals and families affected by the diseases.
On Sunday May 27th, some of our families whose children have been affected by LCH and HLH will be taking part in the BUPA London 10,000 and will become part of Olympic history as they experience the Olympic course before the official athletes do. Further information can be obtained from www.london10000.co.uk
I am writing to ask you to pledge your support to them so that we can become even closer to achieving our goal of finding a cure. Your gift will help provide a brighter future for the many thousands of children and adults who are battling these illnesses each day. Their lives depend on it! Every child and adult with either LCH or HLH is our child and part of our family. We want to give them a fighting chance and a promise of tomorrow. So please give generously.
To donate, please send your cheque to The Histiocytosis Research Trust, P O Box 435, Leeds, LS17 1GE or you can donate on-line at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/NikolasKontoyannisYour donation will be gratefully received.
I would personally like to thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your support.
Yours sincerely,