The Great South Run 2022 saw team members from across all Compass brands take part to raise vital funds for, local children’s charity, the Elizabeth Foundation.

Having a Compass team take part in the Great South Run is something we’ve done for many years and 2022 is no exception to this. This year saw some of our regular Compass Running Club runners participate and complete the whole 10 miles in record timings.

In previous years, our Great South Run running teams have always supported a local charity and this year we chose to support the Elizabeth Foundation. Our runners have surpassed their target and raised a whopping £1,090 to support this fantastic charity!

Why we’ve chosen to support the Elizabeth Foundation

The Elizabeth Foundation is a registered national charity based in Hampshire, with the purpose of supporting young deaf children learn to listen and talk. They also provide support for families across the UK.

Compass team members Jodie Kemp, Jess Gower, and Nick Green recently spent a few hours at The Elizabeth Foundation learning more about the amazing work the charity does and getting to meet some of the amazing people behind it and who benefit.

After their visit, Compass Associates Senior Consultant, Jodie Kemp commented:

“Meeting some of the children and staff, and was both amazing and eye-opening at the same time! It is such a positive, happy place that provides unbelievable care, speech and language therapy, social development, counselling and medical equipment to children with hearing loss, profound deafness, speech impairments, as well as more complex behavioural and medical needs.

It costs nearly £750,000 per year to keep the foundation running and support as many children as possible. Whilst they charge families just £6 per session when in reality it costs the foundation £65 per session, and an additional £45 for speech and language therapy, so you can see how much they need support to be able to offer this fantastic discount to families in need.

A common perception, because they are based inside Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital, is that they receive NHS funding, but in reality, they receive no funding at all. They purely rely on grants from campaigns such as Children in Need and Comic Relief, and mainly through fundraising and support from our local community.

Times are becoming increasingly hard financially for everyone, and after visiting we found ourselves very appreciative of the lives we have when learning about families who maybe have had to give up work to care for children with disabilities, and that’s why we are so very grateful for all your contributions to help others in need!”

The Great South Run 2022

The team were fortunate to have really mild weather throughout the whole day which made for perfect running conditions. All of the team completed the whole 10 miles in less than two hours – an impressive achievement that we are so proud of! Once all participants had finished, they all had a celebratory drink in Southsea’s Scarlet Tap.

After completing the Great South Run, CRS Design Executive, James Pryke commented:

“Being my first time entering the Great South Run, it was an experience I will never forget! Having such a supportive team and crowd cheering you on each step of the way makes the route easier. Compass should be proud of what we raised for The Elizabeth Foundation, a local charity helping young deaf children learn to listen and talk.  To anyone who has yet to do the Great South Run, please consider entering next year, I promise you won’t be disappointed!”

Can you help support us?

If you would like to support the CRS Great South Run team and help us fundraise for The Elizabeth Foundation, you can donate here.

Find out more about The Elizabeth Foundation here and for all the latest CRS news, click here.