Luton Borough Council

04/10/2023 - Council supporting Foodbank campaign in Love Luton Run Fest

Mayor of Luton with Lets Feed luton t-shirt

The Mayor of Luton, Cllr Mohammed Yaqub Hanif, will be teaming up with around 60 councillors, council staff and local authority partners for the annual Love Luton Run Fest event on Sunday 15 October.

This year the team will be running or walking in the 5k, 10k or half marathon event and doing so to raise vital funds for the community-led ‘Let’s feed Luton’ campaign in support of Luton Foodbank.

The council contingent will be joining many hundreds of other runners taking part in the event which brings many visitors to Luton and gives a great boost to town centre businesses during the day.

‘Let’s feed Luton’ is an initiative driven by Community Interest Luton working with Luton Foodbank, InspireFM and Luton Lions to bring the community together to raise funds to support households that will struggle this winter.

Cllr Hanif said: “I was happy to sign up for the hugely popular Love Luton Run Fest that sees many hundreds of people running and walking through some of our award-winning parks and spectacular landmarks such as the Luton Hoo.

“It’s great that so many councillors and council staff supporting this event, along with some of our key partners such as the BLMK Integrated Care Board and Doppelmayr, all raising vital funds to support households in Luton who are really struggling.

“I would like to thank and congratulate the team at Community Interest Luton for the work they do to support communities across Luton.”

Donna Dwyer, Community Interest Luton Director, said: “We know the cost of living crisis is worsening and is being felt hardest by those families already experiencing poverty and struggling to meet the rising cost of food and utilities. This year we will be supporting Luton Foodbank to help make sure no-one goes hungry in our town.

“All money raised will go towards Luton Foodbank's Winter Food parcels campaign. Each food parcel costs £15 to put together and contains essential items to feed a family for a week.”

Community Interest Luton has also recruited a number volunteers to support the event. Fellow Community Interest Luton Director Aimee Clarke said: “Not everyone is able to take part in the run but we are so proud how many volunteers have signed up to assist, with over 250 different people from across our communities supporting runners on the day.”

Linsey Sweet, Chair of Love Luton, added “The support we have seen for our 10th running event has been fantastic, raising funds for vital local causes is a key element of us organising the event and we are delighted to see so many from the council taking part. It’s not too late to sign up, so if you have been thinking about it, sign up now at Love Luton run fest.”

Follow this link to make a donation to the Let’s Feed Luton campaign.