Date: 10th May 2025
On Sunday 5th May, 19 fundraisers ran The Great Birmingham Run raising nearly £10,000 including gift aid support, for various departments across The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH).
A mixture of patients, friends and families of patients, staff and medical students all took to the streets of Birmingham to raise both awareness and funds for Royal Orthopaedic Charity (ROC).
Grace, a scoliosis patient at ROH travelled down from Manchester especially for the event in which she had been training for over 3 months, raised over £1,200 and a huge amount of awareness. Grace is a young sprightly fundraiser and is really passionate about raising awareness about spinal care. She has recently started her own podcast (instagram.com/thescrewloosepodcast/) sharing her experiences of various conditions, the main one being scoliosis.
“If you or a loved one has spinal fusion or scoliosis then the screw loose podcast is a must-listen!” Grace – ScrewLoosePodcast
Joel also approached us earlier in the year looking to support ROC and give back to ROH. Joel was transferred from Doncaster to the specialist spinal team at ROH after a rugby accident.
“I was transferred to the specialists at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital at Birmingham where a biopsy was carried out on 12th October which confirmed a diagnosis of Fibrous Dysplasia. FD is a benign bone condition in which abnormal fibrous tissue develops in place of normal bone.
With the C2 fracture still unstable I had surgery on 14th December with Mr S Hughes (Consultant Spinal Surgeon) to fuse my C1 to C3 with metalwork. After months/years of consultations, x-rays and CT scans at the ROH i thought it’s now time for me to give something back. ” – Fundraiser Joel
Joel rallied his two brothers and five friends to join him in the challenge — and together, they achieved an incredible result. Between them over £4,400 was raised to support our general appeal.
Other fundraisers consisted of ROH staff, Brett and Judith. Both avid fundraisers who turn out for us time and time again and smash their fundraising targets. Some would even call them ROCstars.
As well as a group of medical students currently at Warwick hospital who choose ROC to run for this year.
“We’re a group of six medical students from Warwick who’ve bonded over our interest in orthopaedics — whether it was seeing a hip replacement for the first time, chatting to patients during placements, or watching someone walk again after surgery, we’ve all been inspired in different ways. Taking on the Great Birmingham Run felt like a small way we could give back to the hospitals that had a big impact on us.”
Together, they raised more than four times the amount raised at last year’s Great Birmingham Run — the most ROC has ever raised through the event.
“This certainly is a team high for us. It shows the impact fundraisers can make when they come together. I hope this helps others see the importance of supporting small charities like ours in future” Charlotte Thornwell – Community Fundraiser
A huge thank you to all those who fundraised for ROC this year, we really could not have made such an impact without you.
If you fundraised for ROC and would like to be featured on our website, email us on roc@nhs.net
