April 21st update - I did it! - My finishing time was 4:41!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my fundraising page in support of Crimestoppers.

Between 6 and 10 August 2011, widespread rioting, looting and arson took place in London and across England. The riots were characterised by rampant looting, arson attacks and random street violence and theft of unprecedented levels.

Along with so many others, I was caught up in the riots. My journey home from work on August 8th took me through Lewisham were the riots were raging. I was stopped at a made up road block by rioters and was forced to abandon my car and all my possessions and to run for safety. I was luckier than many others as I came to no physical harm and only lost a car, laptop, mobile phones and other material things that can be replaced.

As a consequence of his my hand experiences, I thought a lot about what would happen next – would the Police be able to find the individuals responsible and would they be brought to justice.

As a result of my own experiences I decided to raise money to support charity Crimestoppers and in that way turn my traumatic experience into something positive.

Crimestoppers is an independent charity helping to find criminals and to solve crimes. Crimestoppers’ vision is that people and their communities have the right to live without crime and without the fear of crime. When crime does take place, Crimestoppers believe that anybody who knows those responsible should go to the police. However, many people who want to take action are close to the criminal and fear retribution. Crimestoppers offers them the secure means to get that information to the police, making their families and communities safer.

In 2012 I ran my first ever marathon for Crimestoppers and raised over £3,100 for them - and I decided again to raise money for Crimestoppers by running the Virgin London Marathon 2013.

This was a huge personal challenge. However, PI was determined to rise to the challenge again for a cause I believe in and also because I think London is a great city offering so much to its residents.

In addition to his experiences during the riots, I have a connection to crime prevention through my profession. I have spent most of my professional life in the security industry working for both manufacturers of security equipment as well as for an international system integrator, providing technology solutions and services to help businesses, organisations and individuals protect themselves better against crime.

All this links together for a good cause; my line of work and my love for London as a great place to live in, combined with my personal experiences and wish to support an organisation that helps others.

So I would like to ask you to support me and by doing so you will support Crimestoppers so that they can continue to help find criminals and help solve crimes.

You can do this by donating the amount of your choice using Peter’s JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/Peter-Romanov-VLM2013

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they will never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, JustGiving will send your donation directly to Crimestoppers and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it is the most efficient way to donate – you donate securely and Peter raises more whilst cutting cost for Crimestoppers.

Please donate generously. Thank you.