Thank you so much for visiting my page! 

I am currently training through the winter, giving up a large percentage of my weekly alcohol intake and spending my already short evenings trudging up and down the seafront in the rain/wind/snow/hail etc! This is all so I can raise money for mothers2mothers!

First things first… yes I do work for mothers2mothers, however this isn’t the only reason I’m running for the charity. mothers2mothers really is a special organisation and here’s why – m2m believe in the power of women to eliminate paediatric AIDS and create health and hope for themselves and their babies, families, and communities.

The Facts:
Everyday 600 children are still being infected with HIV. Almost 90% of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa, and most acquire HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. What is really shocking is that this is actually almost entirely preventable.

So… if paediatric HIV is preventable, why are babies contracting it?
The tragedy is, in sub-Saharan Africa, woman will enter a pre-natal clinic, be told they are pregnant and have HIV, told they need to take their drugs and then sent on their way, this usually happens over the space of only two minutes. Excitement and joy quickly turns to fear, they have no one to talk to and feel completely alone. These women then go home scared of dying and scared of their baby dying. A lot of women don’t tell their families and partners for fear of being rejected or abused, they then don’t take their drugs and give birth to an HIV positive baby. Most babies born with HIV will not see their second birthday.

What are mothers2mothers doing about it?
mothers2mothers have a very simple yet stonkingly effective method!
We train, employ, and empower Mentor Mothers, who are mothers living with HIV, to work alongside doctors and nurses in understaffed health centres as members of the healthcare team. In one-on-one and group sessions, Mentor Mothers provide essential health education and psychosocial support to other HIV-positive mothers on how they can protect their babies from HIV infection, and keep themselves and their families healthy.
As these women also have HIV they can sit with a HIV positive pregnant woman, look them in the eye and say “I have been where you are right now and I survived, you can to. Let me show you how.” 

mothers2mothers have a saying which is “birth should be about life”. I think it's heart shattering that in 2016 there are still babies dying of HIV which needn’t be the case. So this is why I am running 26 miles around one of the hilliest towns in the UK!