Over four hundred supporters took part in our first-ever 5k walk on Saturday (29 July) to raise funds for our hospital’s sick kids. 

From kids to canines, parents to grandparents, the fantastic fundraisers joined forces for ‘Fun Family 5’ – our charity’s exciting new event in association with The Big Sleuth. 

During the day, attendees completed a 5km sponsored stroll through Sutton’s beautiful parkland, before enjoying the bear-themed activities on offer at the event’s Activity Zone, from circus skills workshops to storytelling sessions.

At the event some very special guests, the Chatting family, helped unveil the final Big Sleuth bear, ‘Bearhug’, who was brought to life in honour of the brave children, like five-year-old Carter Chatting, cared for at our hospital.

After Carter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in January 2016, the Chatting family, including mum Lucy, dad Matthew and their children, Monica and Carter, all turned to fundraising to say thank you for Carter’s care.

Mum-of-two Lucy, 45, said:

Carter has been receiving chemotherapy treatment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital for the past 18 months and while his prognosis so far is good, the worry never goes away and having a poorly child really is every parent’s worst nightmare.

The Oncology team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital are simply amazing and we’ve turned to fundraising to not only help Carter’s plight, but so many other children battling an illness too. We all really enjoyed Fun Family 5 and we’re so proud of Carter for completing the 5k walk and playing his part in the wonderful bear unveiling. It was a real honour to get involved!

Designed by artist Rob Bannon and Director of Wild in Art, Charlie Langhorne, Bearhug has now joined his furry friends on The Big Sleuth trail at New Street Station.

Annie Eytle, Acting Events and Regional Fundraising Manager at our charity, said:

We’re absolutely thrilled with the turnout for our very first Fun Family 5 event and would like to say a huge thank you to our incredible supporters, like the Chatting family, for making the day such a huge success.

Every year, our hospital treats over 90,000 children and young people from across the country and the money our Fun Family 5 participants have raised will make a huge difference to each and every one of our sick kids, ensuring we can continue to be the world-class hospital that everyone knows and loves.

View our Event pages to see what we have got coming up this year.