Across November and December, K2 team members in the UK made time to support Naomi House & Jacksplace with their Santa Fun Run event.
An annual fixture, and festive family favourite, the Santa Fun Run is one of the major fundraising events for the charity, alongside the Clarendon Way Walk. This year, around 1000 runners, joggers and walkers, donned their Santa hats and took to the streets of Winchester to complete either a 2k or 5k route around the city centre on Sunday 7th December.
In advance of the Santa Fun Run, K2 volunteers were enlisted to help Naomi House & Jacksplace make pre-event calls to race participants. The aim of these calls was to make sure that registrants had all the information that they needed ahead of race day and to check how their fundraising was going.
On the day of the event, Global Mobility and HR Advisory Consultant, Helen Squibb, and Head of Global Training, Raffi Cortanyan, braved the rain and an early start to help marshal the run.
Reflecting on the experience, Helen comments:
“It was wonderful to be a part of this year’s Santa Fun Run. We spent the morning directing and cheering on over 1000 Santas in our role as event marshals. Some Santas were far speedier than others but whatever their pace, every participant seemed to be full of festive cheer! Despite the wet weather, the turnout and atmosphere were amazing.”
The day after the fun run, K2 volunteers assembled at our Guildford office again, this time to make thank you calls to those who had taken part in the event. This was an opportunity to congratulate and thank participants, update them on the fundraising total, and encourage them to get those last donations in from friends and family.
Client Account Manager, Vicki Sewrey, who helped with making both pre and post event calls, says:
“Making the pre- and post-run phone calls was great – I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed my conversations with all the participants. It was wonderful both hearing how many companies had colleagues running together, and speaking to families who had multiple generations taking part. There were lots of people who have been doing the Santa Fun Run for years and have made it a bit of a festive tradition, but there were also plenty of newcomers – it was lovely to hear how much they enjoyed it too! The best part is, almost everyone I spoke to was planning to take part again and wanted to continue to support the wonderful work that Naomi House & Jacksplace do.”
Naomi House & Jacksplace are hospices supporting life limited and life threatened children and young adults from Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorset, the Isle of Wight and beyond.
Senior Fundraiser and member of the Corporate Partnership team, Lynda Crook, shares the importance of corporate partnerships for Naomi House & Jacksplace:
“Through this year’s Santa Fun Run we have currently raised over £42,000 with donations still to come in: a new record total for this beloved event! There is no doubt that the skilled engagement from the K2 team on the phones has influenced this fantastic figure. The sum will make such a difference, supporting our service provision moving forwards as we continue to face challenges and rising running costs.”
Lynda continues:
“We so appreciate the support of corporate partners like K2 when it comes to these types of campaigns. Our events and fundraising teams don’t have the resources to be able to deliver activities like the pre-event or post-event calls in-house, so we rely on corporate volunteers to help offer as many touch points as possible for our supporters, to ensure that they feel valued and remain connected to our cause.”
Lynda closes:
“The Santa Fun Run volunteering closes out another busy year for K2’s partnership with Naomi House & Jacksplace. In 2025, K2 team members have also volunteered at our warehouses and in our gardens, and have helped with writing thank you cards to players of our lottery and supporters of our online shop. Alongside the volunteering, K2 donated £2000 to the hospices this year; that’s enough to facilitate 18 hydrotherapy sessions for the children and young people who use our services. We thank K2 for everything they have done to support us in 2025. We value our partnership greatly and can’t wait to see what we will achieve together in 2026!”
If you’d like to find out more about Naomi House & Jacksplace hospices and the work that they do, head over to their website.
