We found our rescue dog, Lola, at a rescue shelter in Milton Keynes in 1999, after the council had picked her up in the city centre, lost and pregnant. No one came to claim her, and after her puppies were weaned, she came home with us. What a gift it was to us, that stupid people abandoned a dog so filled with love.

She filled our hearts and our home with love for 13 wonderful, marvelous years, and when she died in September 2012, I felt that my heart was broken and would never heal. Four months on, I can think about her, almost talk about her - and for her, I want to pass on love to another lost and abandoned animal. That is her gift, through me.

So, I am running the Hull 10k in May and I want to raise money for Hull Animal Welfare Trust. Staffed almost totally by volunteers who truly care, truly believe in what they are doing, HAWT work from donations alone. For some animals, HAWT are the difference between life and death - those short days in the council pound between being claimed - or put to sleep.

If I could, I'd shout from the hill tops and raise millions for this charity, they'd save every stray, lost and frightened animal in this area and no potential pet would ever be put to sleep again. Maybe I can't raise that much. But anything you can spare, anything - even a pound - may make the difference between life and death, and give an animal a chance to find a happy, safe home. And love.