Marathon to benefit hospital charity

THE organisers of the new Ballarat Marathon have announced the Ballarat Health Services Foundation as the leading charity partner of the 2024 fun run.

Director of the Ballarat Marathon, Adam McNicol said the aims of the event and the foundation align.

“Ballarat Marathon is an opportunity to promote health and wellbeing across both the Ballarat community, and the wider running community,” he said.

“By choosing the Ballarat Health Services Foundation as our headline charity, we are demonstrating our commitment to exceptional public healthcare in Ballarat.

“Everyone in the Ballarat community relies on our health service at various times across their lives. We hope that everyone who joins our event helps give back to our health service through fundraising activities.”

Ballarat Health Services Foundation chair Lindsay Florence said the organisation is grateful to benefit from the inaugural marathon.

“The key objective of the Ballarat Health Services Foundation is to support Grampians Health Ballarat in helping make our community healthier, stronger and a better place for us all to live,” he said.

“Our relationship with the Ballarat Marathon is a wonderful example of how we can promote a healthy lifestyle while also supporting our local, public health service.”

“As an added incentive, we are offering free entry to Ballarat Marathon for any individual who raises $500 or more using an official Ballarat Marathon Fundraising page.”

Grampians Health CEO Dale Fraser said the marathon organisers’ choice to support the foundation shows a commitment to the local community.

“Their support, along with our community fundraisers, will make an important contribution to the provision of healthcare to our community,” he said.

“Fundraising allows Grampians Health Ballarat, with the support of the Ballarat Health Services Foundation, to enhance large, transformational projects such as the redevelopment of the Ballarat Base Hospital.

“On a departmental level, it means we can provide innovative equipment and services beyond the scope of our government funding, as quickly as possible.”