About Us
“Run the Ring" is a parade of VW cars, VW vans & VW campers, to raise funds for charity. For those that have not Run the Ring before: it started as a joke on Facebook after John Emberton the mastermind behind this bonkers but awesome idea, asked "who wants to run my ring", little did he know that it would be so popular & would be the beginning of the best VW community out there!
Run the Ring has raised £ 256,668.56 for various charities!!!
The first Run the Ring was 25th Sept 2016, when we managed to get 400 VWs to do a lap of the M25 in a 50mph convoy leaving from 4 points, South Mimms, Thurrock, Clackets & Cobham Services on a sunny Sunday morning after a nights camping. We raised just over £10k for Teenage Cancer Trust.
In 2017, we did it again starting with Run The Ring at the Movies in Feb 2017, followed by attending many shows and the main event in Sept 2017, we had approx. 650 VW vehicles complete the convoy on another sunny Sunday morning after camping in two locations. The charity for 2017 was Scotty’s Little Soldiers who support children who have lost a parent in the armed forces & we handed over a cheque for just shy of £26k to Scotty’s at their ball & were awarded Fundraising Team of the Year! An amazing achievement and its thanks to all who took part
On to Run the Ring 3, Sept 2018, this time, in the pouring rain, we unwound by going in the other direction! We raised just over £30k for Brainwave, a charity who support children who have brain injuries and disabilities such as Epilepsy, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and some rare brain conditions.
2019 was a fallow year, but we came back again in 2020 to support Papyrus. Papyrus is the UK charity for the prevention of young suicide. Suicide is the biggest killer of young people under 35 in the UK. Papyrus provides confidential support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide, & anyone worried about a young person, through their helpline. On 20th September 2020, Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Run the Ring still managed to go ahead. We had 950 registrations and managed to raise close to £52k.
Run the Ring 5 in 2021, will always be the year of the bra's when we supported CoppaFeel breast cancer charity. CoppaFeel exists to educate and remind every young person in the UK that checking their boobs isn't only fun, it could save their life. We had a total of 1264 registrations although sadly a fuel crisis meant that many were unable to come. Loads still did though and they covered their VWs in Bra's! Run the Ring raised over £66k. They were impressed by our event and described it as a 45 mile long billboard.
In 2022, we raised money and awareness for Dementia Adventure. A brilliant charity that put a positive message out, showing that you can have an Adventure with Dementia. They provide supported holidays and training. We raised over £65k for them.
We recognised our impact on the environment and continue to offset our carbon footprint by supporting charities that plant trees. Something that is no longer a voluntary donation and is included in registration. We will continue to promote those that choose to join us in electric VW’s.
Look for our group on Facebook to keep up with the chat about Run the Ring.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/M25VWRunTheRing
You can email us at: runthering@gmail.com
