STAFF at the Lucozade, Ribena, Suntory (LRS) plant in Coleford have raised an impressive £5,250 for charity following a ‘couch to 5k’ run on Thursday (May 5).

Twenty three employees, ranging from complete non-runners to those who were just out of practice, took part and all completed the five kilometres in under 45 minutes. They each pledged an amount, on completion of the run, to the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a charity that supports underprivileged young people into work. LRS have committed an additional £5,000 to the charity.

Zoe Woods had never run before training began on March 20 and was the first woman to finish (with her colleague Marie Roberts). She says: “We had support from some experienced runners here, who coached us for this run. We trained in hail, snow and rain but we’ve really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be keeping this up. We’ve decided to continue with our weekly lunchtime run and one of our coaches, Melvin Powell, has offered to coach us towards a 10k run.”

•See this week’s Review for more photographs.