Portsmouth Marathon: raising money for Rowans Hospice

TJ is this year’s headline sponsor for the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon 2022, which is taking place on Sunday 18 December. Each year a different charity is chosen to benefit from some fundraising and this year’s charity is Rowans Hospice.

Rowans Hospice provides palliative and end of life care to the highest quality for those living with a life-limiting illness in south east Hampshire. As well as easing patient’s physical symptoms, Rowan’s highly trained carers also provide psychological, spiritual and social support to both patients and their loved ones.

Their dedicated hospice care is available round the clock either in house or at home, as well as offering services for day visitors in our Living Well Centre. These services are all provided free of charge and as a charity, 90% of their income is generated by legacies, donations, fundraising and our retail shops. Fundraising events such as the Portsmouth Marathon are essential in enabling Rowan’s to make a difference to so many lives.

The marathon is organised by Portsmouth Marathons Ltd and supported by Believe and Achieve Events Ltd, who specialise in organising running, cycling and kayaking events in the Portsmouth area.

Believe and Achieve Events Director Rob Piggott founded the company in 2000 as he wanted to help people achieve their goals. Rob has many years’ experience working in the fitness and weight loss industry, so after setting up Believe and Achieve, he used his expertise to help people to go from never running to completing a marathon. 

Rob set up Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon in 2009, and the business has since grown to offer running, cycling and kayaking events all year round. Winning the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sport’ prize at The News Awards in 2016 is amongst his achievements.

Here we ask Rob a few questions about his company and the fundraising it enables…

What made you get into sports event planning?

It’s great to be able to combine a great running event that brings the community together and encourages everyone to achieve their best, with a fundraiser for an amazing charity such as Rowans. Throughout the year, we raise a couple of thousand pounds for the charities we support through our events and it’s fantastic that we’re able to help make that happen.

What made you choose Rowans as this year’s charity? 

Rowans is close to my heart as I lost my sister six years ago and she was nursed at the Hospice. They do so much for the local community and I wanted to acknowledge and support that.

What other charities have you supported?

In past years, we’ve directed the funds raised through our events to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) and the Portsmouth Hospitals Charity – all very worthy, local causes that really make a difference.

We’ve also worked with Fareham Running Club on a food drive in the past – people donated food and the running club members filled a bag and ran it to the local food bank – a wonderful idea. We’re hoping to fill a van with food donations next month and take it to the food bank in Southsea to help people over the festive period.

The Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon event consists of the full marathon, a festive half marathon and Santa-themed 5k and 10k races. For all those taking part in the santa runs, santa suits will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you’re thinking of running, places are available until entries close on 30 November, so book yours online today! 

For any non-runners, why not come along to support those taking part? Food stalls and refreshment stands will be open on Castle Field to keep you going. Or you can donate to Rowans Hospice and support in that way!

All participants will receive a goodie bag which will include a selection of treats to help you recover from the race. Post race, we’ll also be serving each runner with a fine ale from Fallen Acorn Brewery in Gosport, which you can enjoy on-site or take away with you.

As headline sponsor for this event TJ will be providing waste management services on the day free of charge as well as a range of other support services and a monetary donation. Find out more about TJ Waste’s services and other community events they get involved with…