ACF Car Finance Bristol Dealer Principal, Mark Moore, has signed up to take part in the Bristol Half Marathon on 5 September in aid of industry charity BEN.

Mark, 36 from Downend, also took part in the Great Manchester Run in May along with 14 other ACF Car Finance colleagues but this time he's going it alone. Mark managed to complete his last sponsored run in less than 1 hour with little training however this time he has to run over twice as far so he'll have to put in extra effort.

Mark is counting on support from his friends, family and colleagues at ACF Car Finance and The Funding Corporation. The more money he manages to raise for BEN, the greater the motivation he'll have to not only complete the run but to do it in a respectable timeframe.

On behalf of the company and BEN, thanks go to Mark who is continuing the company's charity fundraising efforts, having already contributed to the £5k+ sponsorship collected in May. Well done and good luck!!

To pledge your support by making a donation online, go to http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/acfcarfinance. 

'Jogger Blogger'

Jane Whittle

ACF Car Finance Marketing Manager

Today we had the chance to present the ACF Car Finance fundraising cheque to Helen Lace from BEN. Helen joined us at Head Office to present to The Funding Corporation group staff and to promote the BEN payroll giving scheme.

Thank you to the staff who attended the presentations held throughout the day and to those who signed up to the scheme. Payroll giving is a regular source of income for the charity which we can all benefit from.

Below is an image of Jamie Fay (one of the 15 ACF Car Finance runners) presenting the cheque. In total over £5,014 has been raised off the back of the Great Manchester Run alone - a fantastic achievement. Great work guys and our gratitude to those who sponsored us runners!!

Jogger Blogger

Jane Whittle

ACF Car Finance Marketing Manager

Did you pick up the Dily Mirror earlier this week with the Great Manchester Run special? It detailed all of the running times for team BEN.

ACF Car Finance's fundraising efforts also made it into the Chester press, check out the coverage below...

Well done to David Ellis, Administrator at the ACF Car Finance Manchester dealership and member of the BEN running team.

Dave generated a further £200 sponsorship for Sunday's run from local prep garage Magnum Motors, in Dunkinfield.

All the more deserved since Dave had to spray his hair pink before the owner Mark would part with the cheque.

Thanks Magnum! And more importantly, thanks daredevil Dave!!

Post race snap with our t-shirts and medals on - well done team!!

From left to right: Peter Nosworthy, Dan Tinsley, Mark Moore, Jamie Fay, Laura Edwards, Jane Whittle, Norman Beaumont, Melissa Parsons, Dave Ellis, Lorna Rossi, John Parks, Chrissy Bennett and Neil O'May. Not featured here: Laynie Stothart-Wilde, Anita Bell and Craig Kinder.

What a fantastic day we all had yesterday, taking part in the 2010 Bupa Great Manchester Run, next to around 30,000 other runners.

The minibus ride to Manchester from Chester was an anxious one for all of the ACF Car Finance runners who had never taken part in an organised race before but by the time we arrived in Manchester we were all very excited and ready for the challenge.

We were dropped off right next to the finish line where many of the elite runners had already finished, making great time in their early running bands. Those runners included Laynie Stothart-Wilde, the top ACF Car Finance runner who managed to complete the run in 45 minutes. Well done Laynie!

After dropping our baggage off and posing for a couple of team photos there wasn't much time left to hang around so we made our way to the starting point, trying to stick together as best we could amidst the huge crowds.

At 12.20 a shot was fired to indicate the start of the race for the pink band, which most of us were in. We all slowly crept our way forward and once through the filter started on the 10km course.

At that point we all separated into smaller groups and as individuals, running at different speeds according to our ability. There were so many people taking part it was a case of bobbing and weaving your way through the other runners for the first 2km or so until the roads widened and we had space to break out.

The crowds were out in force cheering everyone on which was great motivation. There were also a number of charity supporters on the sidelines on the look out for their runners who they shouted, clapped and whistled to. Music was played at different points by local radio stations and other performers, playing tracks which encouraged us on along the way. Songs which stick in my memory in particular included Take That's ‘Greatest Day' and Glee's ‘Don't stop Believing'.

The weather was ideal for the run - the rain held off and although the sun was out, it was broken by the clouds so none of us got uncomfortably hot. The water stations and the water tunnel were however a welcome sight for most, as you soon become dehydrated.

From the pink band of runners our top performers finished in under an hour, achieving times from 53 minutes to 1 hour. Those runners included Jamie Fay, Neil O'May, John Parks, Mark Moore and Peter Nosworthy. Special mention goes to John who stepped in last minute to take the place of another runner who had to pull out due to injury - well done John!

More runners came in between the 1 hour and 73 minute mark. These included Lorna Rossi, Dave Ellis and me.

The rest of the team followed shortly behind including Laura Edwards, Melissa Parsons, Dan Tinsley, Anita Bell and Chrissy Bennett. Again a big thank you and pat on the back goes to Anita who agreed to take part a few days before the even on behalf of another colleague who was injured. Both John and Anita had little time to train for the run and both did extremely well.

After the run we all enjoyed a well deserved celebratory drink courtesy of Norman Beaumont, ACF Car Finance Sales and Marketing Director, who was there to greet the runners at the finish line.

Finally we made the minibus journey back to Chester with a few aches and pains but overall we were all really pleased with our performances.

Thanks to everyone for their support and for the kind donations. We'll be collecting the sponsorship in over the coming days and will have a grand total to report very soon.

Jane Whittle

A very achy Jogger Blogger