Charity runner races in full ambulance uniform and response bag

An emergency responder at London Ambulance Service ran a half marathon wearing his full uniform and heavy response bag to raise money for charity.

Christopher Newman ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday but to make it even more challenging he wore green uniform, bulky work boots and carried his 13kg response bag. He finished the race in a time of two hours fifty-one minutes.

Christopher was one of 17 #TeamLAS runners who took part in the 13 mile race through the City of London and Westminster. The team collectively raised £10,482 for the London Ambulance Charity.

Christopher, 60, said:

“Just wearing the uniform trousers alone makes running very difficult, then adding the boots and the rucksack is such a weight.

“But I did it to raise money for the London Ambulance Charity, which supports the wellbeing and welfare of our ambulance crews.”

Christopher has been an emergency responder for 10 years which means he is a trained volunteer who attends 999 calls in full uniform and in a blue-light response car.

He regularly volunteers for shifts at London Ambulance Service despite having a busy full-time job in Monaco.

He said:

“It is incredibly rewarding to volunteer and we make a difference every shift. Sometimes that difference can be helping to save someone’s life; sometimes it will be making a patient smile.

“But I see first-hand how hard LAS crews work. It can be a tough and demanding job and we definitely need to support their welfare – and the charity can make a real difference to their lives.”

London Ambulance Service has more than 100 ERs from a diverse range of professions and logged more than 12,000 volunteer hours last year.

All the money raised by Sunday’s race will help fund wellbeing initiatives for fellow staff and volunteers, such as wellbeing cafes and support vehicles which deliver wellbeing check-ins, hot drinks, and nutritious snacks to ambulance crews on the road and people answering 999 and 111 calls.

The charity also provides financial hardship support, and helps save more lives by training communities in life-saving skills.

LAS Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles said:

“Christopher certainly got himself noticed wearing his full uniform and carrying his kit bag – what a challenge to have set himself!

“It was great way to draw attention to the brilliant work of our charity and the way it supports our hard-working crews.

“Christopher also demonstrates the important role volunteers play – not just at LAS – but across the NHS.”

You can still sponsor Christopher through his JustGiving page.

For more information about supporting London Ambulance Charity please www.londonambulancecharity.org.uk