Changing Faces is a charity set up in 1992 to support and represent those who look different so that they don’t see disfigurement as an obstacle in life, and so that people in the UK don’t have to struggle with discrimination or low self-esteem.

When my wife Alison was an infant, she was attacked by a dog who bit her face, leaving her with injuries that required hundreds of stitches and, ultimately, years of plastic surgery. She has had a scar on her face for almost all of her life, and so has never known things to be any different, but this has not been a barrier to her either professionally or socially (although she does find that people tend to remember her face!). She is pleased to support Changing Faces through media work, as they provide help to anyone who deals with a disfigurement of any type, be it due to a medical condition, an accident or some other occurrence. 

I am pleased to be running the London Marathon for Changing Faces. Having taken up running less than four years' ago, through peer pressure to start doing parkrun, I have now run more than 120 5ks, 11 10ks and 4 half marathons. I have the ambition to do one full marathon, and one full marathon only, and for this to be the iconic London Marathon. Changing Faces have very generously allowed me to take one of their charity places, and I would like to repay the faith they have shown in me by raising at least £2,000 for this most worthy of causes. 

Alison has resisted running so far, but has recently lost quite a bit of weight, has become a lot more active, and has agreed to run a sponsored 5k around the time of the marathon to support both me and Changing Faces. Her initial timed 5k run on Christmas day was at 32:35, and she hopes to achieve a sub-30 minute 5k by the date of the marathon.

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.