Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I am raising money for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, has been providing lifelong support to our Forces and their families since 1885. In 2018, SSAFA helped more than 82,000 people in need, from Second World War veterans to those who have served in more recent conflicts, and their families. I want to thank SSAFA for the help and support they have provided to myself and my family.

In 2017 we tragically lost our beloved son Ryan Bowen and we all struggle on a daily basis trying to deal with the emptiness and the grief caused by our loss. Luckily for me I have found that running helps me deal with my pain of missing Ryan so I am going to attempt to run one marathon in honour of such a wonderful son who is sadly and deeply missed by all who knew him. Ryan was an organ donor and his heart and other organs were successfully transplanted to give other people a new lease of life and he deserves to be honoured for that act alone. I also want to run it for all the heart broken family members and friends who’s lives will never be the same again without Ryan.

I also want to raise awareness towards suicide to try to decrease the numbers of such devastating loss of our loved ones.

This marathon will not be easy for me at my age and with my ageing legs and body but I can promise you all that with your support and donations that I will put everything into completing this gruelling physical challenge of running 26 miles. I only intend to run this one marathon in my life so I will give 100% commitment to completing the race and also raising as much money as possible for such a worthy charity. Many of you have previously supported me and sponsored me when I run the Swansea half marathon and I thank you all for your kindness and generosity but I am calling on you all one last time to help me reach my target of £5,000 

If any businesses or companies would like to sponsor me I would try to thank you for your support as best I can by mentioning you in my social media posts or even wearing your logos on my running vest or on my training t-shirts. 

Over half a million people have tried to get into the 2020 London marathon and I feel so lucky that I have been one of the lucky few to have been given this chance to run in it and to be able to raise money to help make a difference in people’s lives, I know that pretty soon there will be lots of requests for donations from other people running in the race for other fully deserved charities so please try to give whatever you can to my chosen charity SSAFA .

I want to thank you all in advance for any and all support and donations in advance from the bottom of your heart and I know that with your help and support that I will get over that finish line in London on the 26th April 2020 

Thank you All so much 

Andrew & family ❤️ xxx