Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

This started for me back in 2009. I retired but the Government unexpectedly cut my pension payments and I had no time to make any additional arrangements. I was livid, and realised the only way to get the money back was to live longer by getting healthier and down to an ideal weight. I was still clinically obese at the time, although I had weighed just under 24 stone back in 2002, and by 2009 I was at just over 19 stone, but struggling to lose any more. HIbernian Community Foundation were doing the Fit Fans in Training programme as part of their Mens Health initiative. I signed up, and joined the second group to participate, starting in February 2011 weighing 119.3kg (18 stone 11).  After the initial 12 weeks, I was down to 105kgs, and my belly had reduced from 135cm to 104cm. The Community Foundation decided to have a further course for the FFiT graduates - Fit for Change, and another 12 week session started. At the end, the belly was down to 93cm, and my weight was 91.2kgs, just over the healthy range! A few more 12-week courses, with more advanced exercises resulted in me getting down to a healthy weight of 78.9 kgs and a belly of 87cm on my 52nd birthday in April 2012.! I can fit into 32" waist jeans again - Haven't been able to do that since I turned 15... SInce then, I've been continuing with the keep fit, watching what I'm eating and drinking, my weight has gone up, all upper body and leg muscles! and my belly has still been reducing. I'm off high blood pressure medication, my cholesterol levels are down to the low side of normal and I was able to run for 2 miles for the first time since 1979. I still play 5-a-side football, but can play out of goals now, and I've even managed a couple of 11-a-side matches! captaining the Hibernian Fit Fans team, and also playing in goals for my employers veterans team. The next challenge is to train for and take part in the Hibs hat-trick of marathons!

Wish me luck. Any money raised will help the Hibernian Community Foundation help others like me!