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Independent caterer Aspens Services has doubled its entry into this year's Business Challenge compared with last year.

Worcester-based Aspens, which specialises in catering for primary and secondary schools across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, will have 23 runners on the start line next Sunday including chefs, catering staff and teachers from North Birmingham Academy.

They will be raising money for Birmingham Children's Hospital, with a target of £20,000 to raise across the company in a year of fundraising activity.

Team co-ordinator Ken Tee said: "Catering for children is what we do and we encourage them to eat healthily and exercise.

"For them to see us doing something like this is quite important. All of our schools are challenged to do an event to contribute to our annual donation to our chosen charity and the Great Birmingham Run is just one of our fund raising activities.

"In addition, we have a number of team members with children in the hospital, so it's a nominated charity, which is very close to our hearts."

Aspens, which provides catering to more than 100 schools, are one of only a few contract caterers in the country to have been awarded the Soil Association's Food for Life Gold Catering Mark.

Organisers of the Bupa Great Birmingham Run hope to beat the record 20,000 runners who took part in 2013 when the run reached capacity a week before the event.