25 February 2020
This Sunday (1st March) STAR has a whole team of runners taking part in the Vitality Big Half to raise much needed funds for STAR! The event is part of our year-long celebration of turning 25, which is why the group has a combined fundraising target of £2500. At the time of writing they’re only £600 away from reaching it!
Our five runners have called themselves the STAR-cross’d runners – and they all have a very close connection with STAR. All five have been part of STAR groups at their universities; three have been on committees; three have worked or volunteered for the national team; two have helped set up STAR groups and one is from the oldest STAR group in the country!
Meet the team below – and if you are as passionate about welcoming refugees as the STAR runners, please donate to their pages (or show your support by giving them a wave on the day!)
Meet the team
Maddy Robinson, STAR Student Network Coordinator and former committee member of Exeter and Surrey STAR
Meet Maddy from STAR national. Maddy has been with STAR ever since she joined Exeter STAR while studying at Exeter University 7 years ago. She later set up another STAR group at Surrey University where she was studying for a Master’s. She joined the STAR staff team as Student Network Coordinator in 2016, and for four years has been supporting students to set up and run STAR groups, campaign to affect policy change and run events to educate people on refugees and asylum. Maddy says “I forgot how hard running was when I signed up for this – but taking one for the team because I love STAR! STAR’s work welcoming refugees and asylum seekers across the UK is invaluable and makes a huge difference in thousands of lives every year”.
Hannah Carbery, Nottingham STAR Vice President
Hannah is a final year history student from Nottingham STAR – our oldest STAR group that was set up in 1994! Hannah has never done a running event before but loves running around University Park campus. She’s been finding it a struggle to run in the cold and wet, so she’s been relying on her housemates and boyfriend to keep her motivated. She’s already surpassed her fundraising target and is excited to run with the rest of the STAR-cross’d runners team as she’s trained very hard – she’s even thinking of building up to a full marathon next year!
Francis Brittin, former Cardiff STAR volunteer and STAR National Comms & Events volunteer
Meet former Cardiff STAR member Francis, who loved volunteering at the group’s English conversation club as well as helping organise events. After graduating, he spent a few months volunteering with STAR National as Communications & Events volunteer last year. Frank says he decided to take part because he’d been able to see for himself how much of an impact STAR had – and has an ulterior motive to “get abs’’…
Natasha Chilambo, former Cardiff STAR president and Student Network Assistant
Natasha is a 4th year medical student at King’s College London who joined Cardiff STAR in 2013, and eventually became Vice President and then President! For three months she took on a temporary staff role as STAR’s Student Network Assistant, helping organise a Committee Training event for STAR students and developing a training on intersectionality. She’s feeling a mixture of excitement and dread about this Sunday’s event…
Miranda Flores, Essex STAR
Miranda is one of the founding members of one of our newest groups – Essex STAR. She’s running because she believes that “everyone deserves equal opportunities for growth and happiness.” She’s got the whole committee on board with her fundraising by organising bake sales – which has also been a great way to talk to people about the amazing work STAR does!
Donate now to support STAR’s work
STAR does incredible work welcoming refugees across the UK. Read our runners’ stories above to find out about the huge impact the charity has.
Please show your support for our fantastic team by sharing their stories and donating today.