London Grilling: Emily Bohill, RUN KIDS RUN
In today’s London Grilling we chatted to Founder and Managing Partner at Bohill Partners, Emily Bohill, about her passion for philanthropy and her inspirational charity initiative RUN KIDS RUN, which works to raise vital funds for schools across the UK, whilst enhancing community spirit, empowering children, connecting with local businesses and getting kids and their parents fitter and healthier.
Hi Emily, please introduce yourself to our readers!
I’m Emily Bohill, I’m Irish living in London for the last 23 years – I came with a suitcase and a two-year plan. 23 years later I’m still here – although I now have more baggage, plus a husband, three kids and Molly our beloved Dog!
I wear a couple of hats; I run a specialist real estate executive search and advisory firm called Bohill Partners – we are a firm of 22 people working with clients across Europe on matters relating to talent. I am Vice Chair of a charity called The Story of Christmas - we support the homeless and disadvantaged children. I’m also on the board of the Ireland Funds Great Britain where we support community related initiatives – one of our flagship projects is supporting a rebuild and reimagining of the London Irish Centre in Camden. Finally, I am Founder of Run Kids Run, a charity to help state schools, whilst getting kids fit.
Please tell us about the RUN KIDS RUN initiative.
RUN KIDS RUN is a charitable initiative with the aim of promoting health and fitness amongst young children and their families, bringing communities together and raising funds for primary schools. Our running events bring together different schools from a local community to kick start a big fundraising campaign. It’s a chance for schools to dream big about their improvement plans and mobilise their communities to make it happen. Children run 2k and collect sponsorship from friends and family while we bring on board local businesses and corporate sponsors to provide £5k of additional funds. The collected funds must be earmarked for a specific project which benefits children of all year groups such as refurbishing playgrounds and sensory rooms, upgrading the school’s IT infrastructure, providing counselling and mental health support, organising school trips, sports clubs and enrichment lessons . . .
How long have you been involved in RKR and what is the story behind its creation?
Ever since its creation in 2020.
It all started back in 2018 at my children’s school, Thornhill Primary, in Islington. Our school is a typical London primary with a diverse pupil base and a large percentage of pupil premium children (disadvantaged children). At the time, school budgets were suffering from government cutbacks and we needed funds to build a new school library. So together with other parents I organised “Run Thornhill Run” a sponsored school fun run. The result blew us away. The response from the school and business community was immense. At that first event over 100 pupils took part and we managed to raise £20k! The following year, even more pupils ran, and it was clear we were on to something. Then the pandemic hit and we realised the huge challenges all school communities were going through: the effect of lockdown and home schooling on children’s physical and mental health, the loss of livelihoods of many families across London and the huge strains on schools budgets. That is when I decided to expand the initiative to include more schools in the neighbourhood and Run Kids Run was born.
Do you have any favourite spots in London where you like to run?
I would describe myself as a reluctant but insistent runner. I’m not a natural…let’s just say I haven’t (yet!) won a marathon! I take my runs slowly and that way I get to protect the old knees and enjoy the scenery as I go! I love running along the canals in London – around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park there are around 6km of waterways stretching north, south and west towards Bow and Tower Hamlets. I also love the parks of Primrose Hill, Hampstead Heath, Regents Park and the old train track that runs from Finsbury Park along to Ally Pally.
How does RKR impact local communities?
As the saying goes “Good schools make good communities”. Schools are at the heart of every community and by connecting schools with local corporate and business partners who want to give back, we provide schools with an additional source of funding to carry out improvements to their education environment and provisions. These partnerships help create a network of relationships and collaborations that benefit everyone. Schools can also benefit from the resources and expertise of local businesses to create programs and activities that enrich the children’s learning.
The run also helps strengthen a school community’s bond by encouraging its staff, pupils and parents to engage and work towards a common goal. Some parents, especially from more disadvantaged backgrounds, are not as involved in school life. They shy away as they lack a sense of belonging with their school. Our running events encourage everyone to take part. It is an inclusive initiative, accessible to all - all participants need is trainers and away they go! And by mobilise all runners to seek sponsorship, children develop a sense of pride that their efforts have contributed to improve their school and make a difference.
More extensive community bonds are created when different schools come together. Participants can meet new local parents and pupils, children can make new friends, school staff can connect with colleagues, and local businesses can connect with new customers. This is one of the few opportunities that bring all community stakeholders together.
What are your long-term goals for the charity?
We want to help every school that needs us. We want to be in every borough in London and to expand across the country. We can only do this with corporate partners though – so please do get in touch if community and social impact are high on your agenda.
How many schools currently take part in RKR?
In 2022, 18 schools took part in Run Kids Run events in Islington and Camden. In 2023, the aim is to partner with 45 schools across six events in Stratford, Battersea, Camden, Islington, Paddington and Canada Water.
How can schools get involved in the initiative?
Get in touch with us! If you want to make it happen, we will make it happen!
If a school is in the vicinity of Highbury Fields in Islington, King’s Cross in Camden, Battersea Park in Wandsworth or the Olympic Park in Stratford, they should get in touch and register their interest to take part on contact@runkidsrun.org.
If you are not in these areas, but are interested in getting involved, let us know. Where we find local sponsors to support an event, we identify the schools and invite them to take part. We post our latest news and upcoming events on our website www.runkidsrun.org or on our Instagram page @run.kidsrun.
Describe your perfect day out in London
It would all start with a run, of course! Followed by food! A Borough market food spree, and then to Mallow a vegan restaurant by Southwark cathedral for brunch. I’d stroll on to the Tate Modern for a mooch around, followed by a walk along the river. We are spoiled in London with all the museums – I love the Royal Academy of Arts and the National Portrait Gallery. My guilty pleasure though is the London Transport Museum and I can’t even blame the kids for that one! A walk-through St James’ Park and a coffee and a pastry in The Wolseley for some good people watching. The perfect evening would be dinner somewhere like Palomar, Barbary, Lisboeta, or Sabor followed by theatre tickets for the Donmar, the Almeida or the National Theatre. Or a gig at the Roundhouse or Union Chapel.
Oh goodness! This is an impossible question to answer– you can’t expect someone to define a perfect day in London! There’s so much to do – how about a perfect week, or a perfect year?! Samuel Johnson, the author of the first-ever dictionary said that “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’. He was right of course. This city has it all – music, art, food – it’s a wonderful collection of villages, each with its own character and active community. I find it so inspiring to live here and have all of this on our doorstep. The luck of the Irish? It’s more like the luck of the Londoner!
