Glenn Atkinson named regional ambassador for Running for Premature Babies charity

Mr Atkinson and his wife Renee welcomed twin daughters Ellie and Zoe into the world in 2021 following a rollercoaster pregnancy where, at one point, the family was told there was a real chance both girls wouldn't survive.

At one stage one of his girls had only grown about 10 grams in a fortnight, and Mr Atkinson admits there were weeks of nerves as the couple progressed through the pregnancy and went through a rigorous procession of appointments and meetings with doctors and other medical professionals.

Following the birth of his twin girls prematurely in early 2021, the family spent time in Sydney before being transferred back to hospital in Orange, and now the girls are happy, healthy and about to turn one.

It's an outcome the Atkinsons know they're lucky to have lived.

That fortune is why the couple fought so hard to raise money for Running for Premature Babies in the lead-up to Mr Atkinson's mammoth walk from Orange to Randwick. They wanted to support a charity that had helped them through the hardest periods of their lives. That support helped the walking fundraiser clocked over $200,000.

And it's also why, when asked to join the charity as a regional ambassador, Mr Atkinson jumped at the chance to help out even more than he already has.

And his first point of business? Flood the 2022 Orange Running Festival with a sea of purple shirts.

"We thought if we can get 50 people we'll be over the moon," Mr Atkinson said, preparing to run a half-marathon as part of the team.

"But the first post I put up was about a week ago and we locked in 30 in my team straight away. We may get to 100, who knows.

"But on the day, I'm going to ask everyone to wear a purple shirt and clap each over the line. It'll create that sense of community and that means people are invested; they'll feel part of what we're doing."

And that's the key for Mr Atkinson, particularly in his new role as an ambassador for Running for Premature Babies. That sense of community.

It's a feeling he remembers when going through those early months as a new family, and it was the overwhelming wave he rode throughout his charity walk.

Jumping on board as an ambassador for the charity, at the request of founder Sophie Smith, was the next step in that progression.

"I didn't really see it coming," he said of his rapid rise in the Running of Premature Babies world. "But now I'm here, I've put all my chips in the middle. If this is one way I can contribute, then I'll do my bit."

He said his work with the charity will really ramp up this year, and he'll focus a lot on some of the state's larger regional centres - like Tamworth, Dubbo, Coffs Harbour and Wagga - to help share the love in terms of what the charity can offer regional families.

He said both he and his wife Renee are "organised, proactive and we're willing to give it a nudge".

"If you want to do it, you can; it's that simple, and it's why our walk was successful," he added.

"Because it had a real community focus and loads of people participated; they wore hats, they played golf ... lot of people had some skin in the game."

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