Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

This weekend I will run the London Marathon for Helen & Douglas House Hospice, I'll be in good company - it will also be Mo Farah's first ever London Marathon too.

I'm running it for the world's first ever children's hospice, Helen & Douglas House, which does amazing work caring for children and young adults with life shortening conditions, and supports their families, especially siblings. It was set-up in 1982 and is based in Oxford but supports families from all over the surrounding counties. Every year they need to raise £5 million from donations and fundraising to continue their work. More information on this ground breaking charity can be found at http://www.helenanddouglas.org.uk/

I'm incredibly proud to have been selected to run for Helen & Douglas House and I'm on a mission to raise a stack of cash. This is where you come in! Please dig deep and help this incredibly worthy charity - I'm one of 21 runners for the charity so every penny counts.

Helen & Douglas House help many local families like Ollie’s. Ollie is 6-years-old and lives with his mum Marie, dad Mark and sister Shayla, aged 3. Ollie has grade 2 brain damage resulting in multiple and complex conditions including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, scoliosis, and visual impairment. Ollie also has development delay, learning difficulties and is tube fed.

He has been visiting Helen House since he was 16 months-old and currently stays for three nights every four weeks, which has increased as his needs have changed and his condition has become harder to stabilise. By having frequent respite visits to the hospice, Ollie’s condition and medication can be monitored and stabilised far more effectively.

Here is what mum Marie says about the care at Helen & Douglas House :-

"Coming to Helen House gives Ollie a break from me! He needs 24-hour care. Mark works full time. We get 16 hours-a-week of care support at home. My day starts at 4 in the morning and finishes at 11 at night. I get two hours sleep in an armchair next to him. I think to myself, “I’ve only got to do 4 weeks between visits to Helen House". It is great to have something to get me through those weeks and long nights. Helen House see kids with complex needs all the time, so they have specialism. When other people don’t know what do with Ollie, you know that Helen House will know what to do. Helen House staff are my lifeline. I wouldn’t have got through the last year without them.”

Preparation have been going well and I've run over 800 training miles since August and completed the Oxford and Reading Half Marathons in the orange colours of Helen & Douglas House (Oxford in one hour 47 minutes, Reading in one hour 39 minutes).

Many thanks in advance for your support! I will be regularly updating this page so please keep checking.

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