Oxford Hospitals Charity chief executive Douglas Graham thanks the Oxford Mail and its readers after this year’s OX5 Run took fundraising for Oxford Children’s Hospital over the £1m mark since the event began in 2003.

I am delighted to celebrate such an incredible milestone with all at the Oxford Mail.

It’s hard to believe that 16 years have passed since the idea for the OX5 Run was dreamt up inside your office, marking the start of what has been such a wonderful and lasting partnership between our two organisations.

To reach the million pound mark through this event is an astonishing feat and testament to the generosity of your staff, readers and advertisers who have worked tirelessly to make the OX5 Run the success it is today.

From that first run in 2003, we have been delighted to see the event grow with more and more runners taking part each year but never losing its central purpose - supporting the many thousands of children treated at the Oxford Children’s Hospital each year.

All the runners who take part say they do it to thank the hospital for its care and to raise money to help other families.

Some run in memory of a child they have lost; others are in the midst of intense treatment, or running to celebrate recovery.

They are joined by friends, family members, doctors and nurses from the children’s hospital, local businesses and organisations.

It is no exaggeration to say that the OX5 Run has helped us transform care and save lives.

The money raised at the very first event went towards our £15 million appeal to build the hospital, which opened in 2007.

Since then the sums raised each year have funded so many things, including equipment to cool babies who have a lack of oxygen at birth and tailored space for teenagers with cancer.

This year’s event has helped us to fund laboratory equipment that can diagnose meningitis in just two hours, rather than three days.

Fundraising works best when it is a real partnership – and the relationship we have with the Oxford Mail really exemplifies this.

Working with your team has been an absolute pleasure and I would like to personally give my thanks to all your team at the Oxford Mail who have given their time and energy to making the event such a success.

Your support doesn’t just stop at the OX5, throughout the year you continue to share our charity stories keeping the cause in the minds of your readers

So, on behalf of us all at Oxford Hospitals Charity and the Oxford Children’s Hospital, I would like to say thank you to everyone at the Oxford Mail for reaching this staggering million pound milestone.

We look forward to many more years of this successful partnership so we can continue making a difference for even more young patients.