Charity run raises £1,1000 and counting to help Northampton’s rough sleepers

A charity run held at the Northampton Racecourse last weekend has raised more than £1,100 - and counting - for a local rough sleeper charity.

Stan Robertson started up the Project 16:15 charity in 2017 by walking up and down Abington Street, handing out bacon rolls and coffee to homeless people.

Fast forward to now, the charity provides many more essentials including sleeping bags, tents, basic sanitation and hot meals seven days a week. Stan also runs a ‘Dignity Pantry’ that discreetly delivers food to homes of people who have been moved off the streets.

Husband-and-wife team, running coach Michelle Lewis and former BBC journalist Craig Lewis, organised a charity run at the The Racecourse on Saturday, May 20, to support the incredible work Stan and his team at Project 16:15 carry out.

Craig Lewis, who ran 30 and a half miles in six hours, described the event as a “fantastic day.”

He said: “A huge thank you to all those who helped me somehow shuffle my way through 30 miles and six hours of running, and who contributed to the event raising more than £1,000 and counting for Project 16:15 and Northampton’s rough sleepers.”

The charity run was six hours long, looping around the Racecourse’s 1.6 mile parkrun route. One participant, James Holden, ran 20 miles at 5am because he could not make the event's start time at 8am.Craig’s fundraising page has raised £477 as of Tuesday, May 23. You can donate to his fundraiser here.

Here are some photographs from the Project 16:15 charity run: