Hi my name is Nic Atkinson and I'm the CEO for CityCare, a Nottingham CIC providing health and care services to local people & a trustee for the new Community Charity.

This April, I’m taking on my fourth attempt at the Thames Ring 250 — a 250 mile ultramarathon that tests every part of you — to raise funds for the Nottingham CityCare Community Charity.

The charity was established in 2024 by a group of dedicated trustees who wanted to support projects and local causes that strengthen the health and wellbeing of people across Nottingham. I joined as a trustee soon after becoming CEO of Nottingham CityCare, a community interest company whose mission and social value commitments align closely with the charity’s purpose. It felt like a natural extension of the work we do every day.

Although the charity is still in its early stages, our purpose is clear: to preserve and protect the health of patients in Nottingham by funding the things that make a meaningful difference but aren’t normally commissioned by the NHS or local authorities.

Through future grants — raised as part of a series of fundraising endeavours — the charity aims to support:

• Community and peer to peer support groups

• Practical advice, facilities and equipment for patients and families

• Early intervention and prevention initiatives

• Ideas from colleagues, patients and the public that help people live healthier, safer and more connected lives

Sometimes that support will help a new group get off the ground. Sometimes it will step in for a family who needs help at a critical moment. Always, it will be about investing in the wellbeing of the communities we serve.

Why CityCare? Why this charity?

Nottingham CityCare is the city’s largest provider of NHS community health services, with more than 1,200 colleagues working every day in homes, clinics and neighbourhoods across Nottingham. As a community interest company, we exist to make a difference — not to generate profit — investing any surplus back into the communities we serve.

CityCare’s social value commitment runs through everything we do:

• Tackling health inequalities

• Supporting early years and family wellbeing

• Making services culturally relevant and accessible

• Partnering with voluntary groups and local organisations

• Helping people build skills, confidence and careers

• Investing surplus back into Nottingham

The charity builds on this foundation. As a trustee, I’m joining at the very beginning of its journey, but as CEO of CityCare I see every day where the need sits — the gaps between services, the pressure points in our neighbourhoods, and the places where teams work hard to smooth over the cracks. The charity gives us a new way to respond: to invest in ideas, support and practical help that sit outside traditional commissioning but make a profound difference to people’s lives. It also aligns closely with our new strategy, Driving Excellence in Neighbourhood Health, which is all about strengthening local support, prevention and community wellbeing.

Why the Thames Ring 250?

Because it’s hard. Because it demands resilience, humility and community — the same qualities that underpin CityCare’s work. And because every mile is a reminder of the people in Nottingham who push through their own challenges every day, and of the incredible work our CityCare colleagues do to support them — making a difference, day in and day out, for our patients and communities.

This year, it also feels personal. I’ve just turned 50, I’m navigating the fog that is the perimenopause, and I’m trying to balance training with the realities of leading an organisation. I’m genuinely not sure this is achievable — and maybe that’s the point. Sometimes you have to set yourself a challenge that’s bigger than you are in the moment, so you can grow back into the person you want to become.

And there’s something else: to date, no woman has ever completed four attempts at the Thames Ring 250. That history isn’t the reason I’m running, but it does give this year’s attempt a particular meaning — a quiet reminder of what persistence can look like, and what it can stand for.

If you’re able to support the charity, your donation will help us begin this important work — backing ideas, groups and people who will make Nottingham healthier, safer and more connected.

Thank you for helping us make a difference to our communities!