On Bonfire Night in Altrincham, a line of bright yellow bibs cut through a smoky haze enveloping the town. For many wearing them, the streets are still unfamiliar; for some, the sound of fireworks serves as a reminder of why they are running in the first place.
“Tonight, we had to be mindful of fireworks because of the noise,” Jane Dennison told the Manchester Evening News. “It sounds like gunfire, they come with real trauma. At least with running it gives them a way into the community, to feel accepted.”
From Law to Charity Leadership
By day, Jane is the founder CEO of wellbeing and health charity MileShyClub; in the evening, she leads the town's Refugee Run Club. The 45-year-old, from Sale, set up the organisation ten years ago after quitting the world of law, inspired by her own story of overcoming homelessness and mental health battles.
Then, one icy winter's day in November last year, she noticed two men in flip flops walking through the Altrincham high street. Jane was already aware of the nearby Cresta Court Hotel and its inhabitants. Used to house asylum seekers and refugees, the building has become a controversial symbol of the UK's heated immigration debate.
“I remember thinking, they’re the guys from the hotel,” Jane recalled, “Why haven’t they got any footwear?”
Setting Up the Run Club
In 2024, the hotel was closed and turned into accommodation for asylum seekers. The action divided opinion, turning Church Street into a battleground for hundreds of protesters. Jane says she felt an urge to help.
She told the MEN: “I’ve been working in the charity sector for ten years, supporting people with their physical and mental health. I was hearing stories about all these fireworks being thrown at the hotel, people told to jump out of windows. I was really cross and when I saw they didn’t have any footwear I was just gutted. I know a lot of people in the charity sector, so I know some of the charities that work in the hotel. So, I thought, what can I do to help?”
After liaising with her contacts, Jane found herself among the very few allowed inside the hotel, where she set up the club in January. She explained to the MEN how it wasn't easy at first, wary of the climate outside, the lads took some convincing but eventually numbers rose. The run club was a secret for months, and the group had to settle with the conference hall of the building as an indoor running track.
As the club's popularity grew, so did the need for shoes, prompting Jane to do something she knew would come with a lot of baggage. “Nobody is giving us money to do this,” she said. “I got some volunteers together that I trusted with the information. We had two choices, one is that we say it was a success and we don’t do it anymore, or we tell everyone about it. We knew that came with huge risks, but if we tell everyone about it, we get donations. In end of April, early May we went public with it. I don’t think people realised what we were saying until they started seeing us outside. On the back of that, we’ve started all the donations.”
Impact and Challenges
Since going public, Jane says they've managed to donate over 650 pairs of trainers as well as clothes for the asylum seekers. “It’s really fantastic for their mental health,” she said. “You go in there and you put your name. There’s a list of people who’ve been in the hotel that day. It’s like electrician, English speaking volunteer, ambulance, doctor and then there’s me, run club! So, it’s so awesome and I’m just so proud. Nobody else is doing anything for them. These guys are younger than my kids, they come, and they go and it’s a hard task to get them motivated sometimes. But you can see how beneficial it is for them, you can see how happy it is for them. We’re told time and time again how depressing it is for these guys here. The amount of PTSD they have is insane.”
But the exposure has come with some backlash online and in real life. “I appeared in a far-right news channel in July,” she explained. “I had about 1.6 million views because it was just my face with the guys. There’s no political reasons for doing this, I’m not a member of a political party. I know some Labour MPs because they’re the people that control Trafford Council and pay for some of the work I do. The idea of this is it’s the community coming together. I’m pretty tough, pretty resilient emotionally and a lot of my work is working with people in drug and alcohol recovery. Here, there’s a real level of desperation and its something I’ve never encountered before.”
The Refugee Run Club is currently fundraising for equipment, clothing and money for transport to local park runs.
