One of my favourite memories is in Winchester, 1996. All my life (probably even from the womb) I'd been bugging my mum to get a cat. I loved cats. I'd go as far as saying I was obsessed with cats (I also have a memory of being told off for trying to drink milk out of a saucer, but that's a different story). I remember being sat in the living room when a man visited our house to check it was a suitable home for a cat. I remember painting a picture at a school playscheme of a ginger cat and telling everyone it would be my cat one day. 

But my favourite thing to remember is when we visited a lady's flat on October 17th, 1996. The flat was full of cats. She was a Cats Protection League cat fosterer (I couldn't do that job, I would keep all the cats). This was the first place I ever saw my Tiggy. She wasn't ginger, but she was a perfect little tabby girl. My mum paid twelve pounds for her and off we went. She was our cat. 

We got home and the first thing she did was find the litter tray. A clever little cat, she knew exactly what to do. She was my everything. I wrote stories about her, drew pictures of her, chatted to her. As an only child I suppose she was the closest thing to a sister that I had. 

She filled our home and our hearts with love and joy for 21 years. We don't know the story of how Tiggy came into the care of Cats Protection, but I am eternally grateful that she did. They provided me with my best friend and companion, and they do the same for families every day. That's why this cause is so important to me. Cats Protection take in poorly cats, abandoned cats, and pet cats that people can no longer care for, and look after them until the perfect home comes along. They turn unwanted cats into family members. 

Please sponsor my ten mile run. Last year I couldn't run for a single minute, and now I'm committing to running ten miles. THAT is how much I love cats!