The importance of hospital volunteering will come into focus this Sunday morning when the Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda hold a five kilometre race around the Botanical Gardens.

The event - a first by the association and a new addition to the road racing calendar - is not a fund-raiser but, as executive secretary of the auxiliary Lena Ostroff explained, simply to make the public more aware of the organisation and its role.

"We are doing this to draw attention to the importance of volunteering at the hospital. We are one of the oldest registered charities in Bermuda and probably one of the most successful," said Ostroff. "We have about 300 active members who work in the hospital and who also run our three retail businesses - The Barn, The Gift Shop and The Pink Cafe.

"Last year our volunteers worked more than 58 000 hours and raised $360 000 for the Bermuda Hospitals Board. But like all charities, we could always use more volunteers," she said, adding that the group will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

The race will feature various age categories for both walkers and runners and a number of incentives will be on offer, including a top prize of a weekend for two at the Pink Beach Hotel. In keeping with the event's theme - "In The Pink" - participants will wear T-shirts with this slogan printed on them. It's a reference to the group's uniform colour and harks back to the days when they were known as The Pink Ladies..

Persons interested in signing up for the race can collect entry forms from Sportseller, International Sports Shop, Sports R Us or the hospital's auxiliary office and return them by Friday.