TV star on marks to help hospital (From Oxford Mail)

TV star on marks to help hospital

5:00pm Tuesday 8th March 2011 in News By Debbie Waite

TELEVISION presenter Michael Holmes says he can’t wait to take part in this year’s OX5 Run.

The 42-year-old wants to thank the John Radcliffe and Oxford Children’s Hospital for their “exceptional” care of his daughter Lily.

Mr Holmes, from Longworth, near Abingdon, will be running the five-mile race with his wife Emma Kirby, 41.

The presenter of BBC1’s Trading Up and the Channel 5 series I Own Britain’s Best Home said: “Emma heard about the OX5 while on a hospital visit with Lily and we jumped at the chance to take part.

“Lily, who is eight, was born at the JR, as were our sons Freddie, 13, and George, 12, but at just a day old the doctors noticed there was something wrong with Lily’s hearing.

“She is hearing impaired, but their expertise enabled them to identify this exceptionally early on and fit Lily with hearing aids as a baby.

“This meant she could hear and learned language in the correct way, and their care and expertise has continued to help her considerably as she has got older.

“We feel so lucky that the JR was our local hospital and that’s why we want to run the OX5 and raise as much as we can in sponsorship for the Children’s Hospital.”

The ninth OX5 Run will take place at Blenheim Palace, in Woodstock, on Sunday, March 20, and organisers are hoping to break all previous records.

Last April, more than 850 runners completed the run and raised £57,000 for the hospital.

This year organisers want to attract 1,000 runners and set a new fundraising record. So far 600 people have signed up and there is still time to enter.

All sponsorship goes towards buying vital equipment for the hospital.

Mr Holmes added: “Blenheim is one of our favourite places for walks as a family, so running through it will be a pleasure, and we’re really looking forward to it.

“We’re training three times a week and the children will be there to cheer us on with their grandparents. It should be a fabulous day.”

Equipment purchased with money raised by last year’s OX5 Run included a cooling system used to help prevent children at risk of cerebral palsy from developing the disease.

Recruitment company Allen Associates, of Oxford, will sponsor the OX5 Run again this year.

• The Oxford Mail would like to hear from more people planning to take part in the run. Call the newsdesk on 01865 425500 or email news@oxfordmail.co.uk.

• To enter the OX5 Run, fill in and return the form printed on this page or register online by clicking the link below.