Morson International has a team of 48 entering for the Great Manchester Run which takes place on 17th May 2009.

The event has gained momentum year on year to become the UK’s premier 10k run. Team Morson are currently training hard to raise as much money as possible for our two official charities Leukaemia Research and Seashell Trust.

Here are some facts about the BUPA Great Manchester Run 2009:

· There will be 33,000 runners

· It is Britain’s premier 10k running event

· A great route round all the top sights of central Manchester

· Highlights on BBC television race starts from 10am

Leukaemia Research is the only charity in the UK dedicated exclusively to researching blood cancers including Leukaemia, Myeloma and Hodgkin’s and other Lymphomas. £100 million is needed over the next 5 years to sustain the work they do, all of which must come from charitable donations. 24,500 people develop a blood cancer in the UK every year. These diseases affect people of all ages bur, tragically, are the most common cause of cancer death in children and young people under the age of 35. Leukaemia Research aims:

· To discover the causes of blood cancer

· To understand how blood cells become cancerous

· To refine diagnostic methods for the rapid and accurate assessment of these diseases

· To devise new treatments for blood cancer patients and improve their quality of life

The Trust is based locally in Cheadle and offers life changing educational facilities and specially supported residential homes to young people with severe disabilities. .

The young people all have a combination of complex disabilities including deafness, blindness, learning disabilities and physical disabilities. Often they come arrive to live at the Seashell Trust with no system in place to communicate with their parents or teachers; however the charity’s 24 hour one-on-one support and individual programmes help them develop the key skills they need to fulfil their potential in life.

The students’ places in the Royal Seashell School and College are funded through the local authority; however the charity raises funds to provide the students with the very best facilities and life experiences possible. Including classroom & therapy equipment, the state of the art fully inclusive gym and swimming pool (Seashell is Stockport’s designated centre of disability sport), out of school activities (Seashell is known nationally for providing fully inclusive children’s sport activities) and currently the updating of our 1950’s buildings to suit the increasingly complex population of students.