Charity fun run set to be held in memory of well known Northampton homeless man

It has been five months since the death of George Murray, a homeless man who was well known around Northampton town centre.

Running coach and personal trainer Michelle Lewis and her husband, former BBC journalist Craig Lewis, run a local fitness business together called Step Forward With Lewis.

Together, they wanted to do something to honour George and provide help for other rough sleepers in Northampton.

They now have permission from West Northamptonshire Council to host a charity fun run at the Northampton Racecourse in aid of local homeless charity, Project 16:15, on Saturday, May 20 between 8am and 2pm.

Michelle said: "George Murray was a hugely well-known and popular figure on Northampton's streets. But all too often, rough sleepers like George only get the help and recognition they deserve when it is too late."

Michelle, who has run 17 marathons herself and is a run director at Northampton parkrun, added: "Project 16:15 do fantastic work with rough sleepers in Northampton and at Step Forward With Lewis, we are always keen to help them.

"The idea of a charity run actually came from a guest of ours on our podcast, Running Tales, who did something similar in Cannock.

"His run actually went on for 24-hours, but we decided six was more than enough.”

Participants can run as little or as much of the six hours as they want and the run is free to enter.

The timing of the 16:15 charity run will overlap with parkrun on May 20 but the plan is that people taking part can incorporate their regular parkrun into the fun run event.

There will be no T-shirts, no medals and no winners as this charity fun run is not a race. It will, however, provide residents the opportunity to raise money for people less fortunate than them in memory of George Murray.

There will be an aid station with food and drinks provided by Project 16:15.

Michelle said: "With a bit of luck, we can help the next George in some small way."

The money raised will enable Project 16:15 to provide Northampton’s rough sleepers with essentials such as sleeping bags, tents, basic sanitisation and hot meals seven days a week.

It will also help to fund their ‘Dignity Pantry’ - a service that discreetly delivers food to homes of people, who have been moved off the streets and into accommodation.

Project 16:15’s Stan Robertson said: “Our main thing we do is deliver hope to people who can’t find hope anywhere else.

“Get involved if you can and, if you can’t run, support someone who is. We want to make it an annual event, making it bigger every year and keep adding to it.

“We are really grateful to Michelle and Lewis and Running Tales - their podcast - for doing this.”

Michelle and Craig are currently working on creating a Just Giving page that will enable Project 16:15 to receive direct donations but say it would be “amazing” if people want to set up their own fundraising pages for the rough sleeper charity.

Become a member of the 16:15 Charity Run Facebook group to keep up with all of the latest news on the event along with details of how you can raise money for Project 16:15.