‘It really changes your mindset’: the amazing power of running for a good cause

Both running and volunteering have been shown to reduce stress. Photograph: Getty Images (posed by a model)

It is a cold, dark winter evening – the kind of night that can have even diehard runners struggling to find the motivation to venture out. But there will be none of the usual “shall-I-shan’t-I?” dialogue going on in Sarah Donaghy’s head, because tonight is Food Bank Run.

Donaghy, a teacher and the welfare officer for Fareham running club in Hampshire, organised the first Food Bank Run in February 2018, along with the club secretary, James Musselwhite. “The idea was that, instead of our usual training run, we’d fill backpacks with food to donate to the local food bank and run there, where volunteers would be waiting to receive it,” she says. Donaghy was expecting about 20 members to take part: “I lost count by the time I got to 70.”