Award-winning garden designer and TV presenter Chris Beardshaw from Pershore has signed up to run the British 10K for The Salvation Army.

As one of the official charities for this year's British 10K race in July, the Salvation Army is encouraging people to run and raise money to support its social service work across the UK and Ireland. Chris, along with 20,000 other runners, will take to the streets of London on Sunday, July 3, 2005 to help raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes.

Chris Beardshaw has come a long way from his job as a lecturer at Pershore College. Now he is a familiar face on TV screens presenting gardening shows including Gardener's World, The Flying Gardener, Hidden Gardens, and current Channel 4 show The Great Garden Challenge.

He said: "It's great to have the opportunity to work towards a goal and there's nothing like the prospect of running 10K to focus the mind. I used to train and run for the county but that's more years ago than I care to remember. Doing the run for the Salvation Army will certainly be a great experience and a good opportunity to raise money for such a worthwhile cause."

To sponsor Chris Beardshaw online please visit the web address www.justgiving.com/chrisbeardshaw

The money raised by runners like Chris will help to fund Salvation Army residential centres for homeless people, care homes for the elderly, family centres and facilities for people with drug and alcohol addictions, as well as projects run at over 750 local church and community centres.