There are any number of ways that we could have chosen to celebrate 10 years since we started the charity Justlife in Manchester, but one cool winters day, earlier this year I decided this would be it: #10days10ks - Ten days, of 10K runs, on Brighton seafront, with 9 friends each night. "What better way to celebrate a 10th birthday?" I hear you ask!The idea turned into a reality on Friday June 15th at 7pm, when along with 5 friends I set off from Yellow Wave near Dukes Mound. We ran to Hove Lagoon at a steady pace on a windy night and finished an hour or so later back at Yellow Wave. Each night new people came, with numbers eventually breaking through the magic '10' with 13 runners completing 10K on the Tuesday and then building to a mighty 19 for the final miles on Sunday 24th June. We finished on a warm sunny night with a beautiful sea swim, a barbecue and some lovely ale donated by Dark Star Brewery.10 x 10 is significant not only because since we started Justlife we've supported thousands of homeless people living in unsupported temporary accommodation but because whilst government figures report around 5,000 households live in B&Bs in England, our most recent research,
Lifting the Lid, estimates the actual figure to be over 50,000. That's a staggering
10 times the government records. This forgotten group is by far the largest group of homeless people in the country and they are not even acknowledged in the stats let alone the services and policies which are designed to end homelessness. Homelessness could be 10 times worse than we thought.So, #10Day10Ks was a very enjoyable, celebratory event with an important message. For myself and Andy who covered the full 100K in 10 days it was an immense challenge but we did it. People are already asking about next year....... let’s see.
