This Sunday's huge charity fundraiser, the Bath Half, which helps support scores of local charities including Dorothy House Hospice care, WILL go ahead.

Dorothy House's Team Dotty has 131 runners taking part to raise funds for vital end of life care at the hospice.

Dorothy, which has a hospice in Peasedown, first became involved with the race in 2002 and last year had 148 runners signed up for fundraising.

This year Dorothy House are aiming to beat 2019's fundraising total of £53,600 to provide funds to support end of life patient care.

The hospice provides care and support to patients, their families and carers across 700 sq. miles, serving a population of 550,000 people in B&NES and Wiltshire.

Emily Knight, Events Fundraiser said: "This event is always an awe-inspiring day and we are looking forward to cheering on all our runners during the race.†

Around 17,500 runners are expected in the streets of Bath running to raise over £2 million for charity.

Tickets to the event sold out in a matter of weeks and those taking part include mother of tragic Midsomer Norton marine Ethan Jones, who died while he was in training.

His mum Natasha Jones is running the Bath Half for the RMA - The Royal Marines Charity and has already had donations of over £13,500.

You can still donate to her run at:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/natasha-jones47

There is growing criticism of the event organisers in light of the coronavirus situation, with two positives tests in B&NES.

For details on key ways to deal with the outbreak see the Nub News guide here

Organisers made an official statement on Thursday March 12 explaining their decision:

Thursday's full statement:

We fully appreciate public concerns that have been expressed in the local press and on social media about the spread of the virus and we have been working hard to make the right call about whether the event should go ahead or not. Following on from today's government announcements regarding the spread of COVID-19 we wanted to update all our runners, charity partners, spectators and the Bath community about Sunday's Bath Half Marathon.

As event organisers we are continually monitoring the situation, consulted with and taking advice from Public Health England, our local authority, our local NHS and public health teams and the Department of Health & Social Care. Their advice currently remains that the risk of infection from outdoor events such as the Bath Half Marathon remains low, and that there is no epidemiological or medical evidence to suggest that mass participation events should be restricted at this time.

We therefore plan to go ahead with Sunday's race.

The decision to go ahead has not been taken lightly. Every year we deliver the Bath Half Marathon with safety as our priority. Each year we rely on the expert opinion of relevant government organisations and public agencies around us to help us deliver a safe event, or advise us when an event cannot be safely carried out. Their advice to us a present is that our race can and should go ahead.

On the advice of the Public Health team we are providing additional hand wash facilities and other medical measures at our event. We are also actively promoting the key public health message to ask runners and spectators to play their part in slowing the spread of the virus by following NHS advice regarding good hygiene practices; washing their hands, covering their mouth and nose when they cough, or sneeze; and disposing of used tissues in the bin immediately.

Thank you for bearing with us while we have carried out all the work that needs to be done to make our decision – there has been a lot of information for us to look at and the situation has been changing quickly.

We are working really hard to make the 2020 Bath Half a great day for all our runners, charity partners, spectators and for the wider benefit of the city. This long-standing community event, is the largest charity fundraiser in the South West region, raising over £2 million pounds in 2019 for a range of charities and local voluntary groups, used to fund essential services.

Andrew Taylor, Bath Half Marathon Race Director

A statement from our Medical Director – Thursday 12 March

We have taken appropriate guidance at both a local and national level and have carefully reviewed our event medical plans to ensure risk is reduced and adequate facilities are in place to protect all participants to the best of our ability. Working as an Emergency Consultant and leading on Covid-19 planning I fully understand this is a worrying time for everyone and we advise anyone feeling unwell not to attend the race and to seek advice from 111.

Should anyone be taken unwell at the event we have isolation facilities to be able to manage a patient and appropriately skilled and trained clinicians to manage a number of clinical situations. We will closely be monitoring Public Health and Government advice over the next 24-48 hours and acting appropriately on any instructions issued.

Dr Rachel Oaten

Race Medical Director

Clinical Lead Emergency Medicine