The Walfinch home care team have smashed their target of raising £10,000 for the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), after clients, local office owners, supporters, and dog Mia, walked, ran and pushed a wheelchair along a five kilometre course on Hampstead Heath.

 “Donations raised by the 60 people who attended have brought us to a total of £11,607 to date, but it was about more than money,” says Amrit Dhaliwal, founder and CEO of home care company Walfinch, which champions an active lifestyle.

 “It showed our combined commitment to helping the ROS raise awareness of osteoporosis, which causes bones to lose strength.  Half of women over 50 and a third of men over 60 will have a fracture due to osteoporosis.  As carers we often see the results.”

 Amrit, who is a Business Ambassador for the ROS, adds: “Exercise can slow the loss of bone strength, or even reverse it, so Walfinch’s focus on care plus activity aligns with ROS recommendations.”

 Sasha Kamenetski, from the ROS, who was at the event said: “At the ROS we so often hear from people who didn’t realise they had osteoporosis until they broke a bone, so seeing people come together to raise awareness and support prevention felt incredibly powerful.

“It is only due to this fantastic effort and the funds raised that we can continue to provide vital services to those who need us most.”

 Highlights included:

 Super-fit Walfinch CEO is overtaken by a five year old

 Muhammad, the five-year-old son of carer Marwa, from the Walfinch Guildford team, ran fast enough to overtake Amrit, a regular gym goer. Amrit says: “He was my running partner for a while but around the second hill he stopped waiting for the adults to keep up. He ran like he had somewhere to be!”

 Sally and Colleen top the hill by wheelchair

 Sally and her sister Colleen were brought along by their carers Charmaine and Elmarie, from Walfinch Kingston and Weybridge, and were wheeled 2.5 kilometres uphill.  Sally says: “It was fabulous!”

 Tracy Lezar, who co-owns Walfinch Kingston and Weybridge, says: “She and Colleen loved it, though the hill-climb was quite hard work! I’d brought along my daughter, and my co-owner Kathleen Plough had brought her granddaughter Raiden, so everyone helped out.”

Practice for the marathon

 Kunal Parkash, who co-owns Walfinch home care Richmond and Putney, and friend Sandip Patel, used the 5k as practice for the 2026 London Marathon on 26 April, where they are running to raise even more funds for the ROS.

 Kunal says: “We had done a 20k practice run before we arrived, so over the whole day our feet travelled around 28k, which was great preparation for the marathon.”

 Dog Mia: went there, got the T-shirt

 Carer Ilka brought along dog Mia, a staffy, who was dressed in a Walfinch T-shirt. Ilka, who is one of Tracy and Kathleen’s team, says:  “She loved all the attention. Sally was particularly delighted that Mia was there.”

 Kids get active

 An enthusiastic group of children joined in.  Fatima, from the Walfinch Guildford care team, brought along her son Martin, 5, who ran the whole 5km course alongside his mum, and her colleague Sarah walked the course with her two boys Michael and Mason.

 Rose Reardon, co-franchisee of Walfinch Guildford, says: “All the children got together and enjoyed themselves, and Amrit bought them hot chocolate afterwards.  Everyone had fun!”

 To donate to the ROS via Walfinch’s Just Giving Page go to https://www.justgiving.com/team/walfinch

For more information about the Royal Osteoporosis Society and about the condition, visit www.theros.org.uk