A 64-year-old volunteer is running his first ever 10km road race to raise money for Cats Protection’s Honiton Branch.

Branch co-ordinator Bob Carter - who is taking part in the Martock 10km race on Sunday 16 June - had never run before he joined a gym 18 months ago.

“I wanted to get a bit fitter and my fitness trainer, Amanda Gowler from Leisure East Devon, suggested I might like to give running a go,” said Bob.

“So in September I ran Seaton Parkrun for the first time – this was my first 5km run. I quite enjoyed it and have done a few of these now – and also volunteered at these events as a marshal!

“The idea then came to me that I could do a sponsored run for Cats Protection’s Honiton Branch as we desperately need to raise more funds.

“5km didn’t seem enough of a challenge, so I decided to try a 10km race – which will be the first time I’ve run this distance in my life!”

Sponsorship money will help the branch open a new ‘hub’ which will replace the shop and office which closed in January 2019.

Bob added: “We want to open a new branch hub so members of the public can visit us and access services like cat neutering, rehoming and cat care information – and it would provide our volunteers with a place to meet.

“It will help the success of the branch continue and allow us to help many more cats in need in coming years.”

Bob is on a strict training schedule to build up from running 5km to 10km, with a mix of longer and shorter runs between now and the big day.

If you would like to sponsor him, you can donate via his JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/honiton-cats-bobs-run

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For further information or an interview, please contact Cats Protection’s Media Office on 01825 741 911, at media.office@cats.org.uk, or @CPMediaTeam on Twitter.