Around 35 people joined the BAPS Annual 10k Challenge in Cardiff on Sunday 7 May 2017.
The charity Challenge brought together more than 3,000 enthusiastic participants from towns and cities across the UK for a fun and healthy way to raise money for various worthy causes and local charities.
The funds from this year’s event in Cardiff will go towards BAPS’s multifarious educational, community and spiritual activities serving children, youths, families and the elderly. Some of the funds will also be donated to Cancer Research Wales to support their outstanding work for clinical and laboratory-based cancer research in universities and hospitals across Wales. In addition, this year’s national charity partner with BAPS is Alzheimer’s Society, one of the country’s largest charities fighting dementia.
Previous national partners for BAPS and BAPS Charities have included Age UK, the Anthony Nolan Trust, Barnardo’s, Breast Cancer Care, the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK, KIDS, and Macmillan Cancer Support. Locally, the Challenge has helped Welsh Hearts Charity, Kidney Wales Foundation and St John's (Ambulance) Cymru Wales.
The event kicked off shortly after 4.00pm from Shree Kutchi Leva Patel Samaj, Cardiff.
Addressing the gathering, lead volunteer Umesh Buddhdev said, “It is fantastic to see everyone here today and contributing towards such worthy causes. We're very grateful to all those who have participated and supported the event.”
After the opening ceremony, walkers, joggers and runners moved along the 10-kilometre route towards the Principality Stadium (Millennium Stadium), through the heart of the city of Cardiff, before passing the SSE Cricket Stadium and back to the Samaj.
Dilip Patel, a participant, shared, “Today I did the walk along with my family and friends. It was great to see people of all ages participating, working so hard with volunteering and coming together to support such great causes. The BAPS 10k Challenge has taken place in Cardiff every year for the last 12 years, and the response from the entire community has always been fantastic.”