Thank you for taking the time to visit my Justgiving page.

On 1st December, I will be running my 10th marathon, Valencia. When I crossed the finish line of my 9th marathon in Dublin last year I knew that I would finally do some fundraising for the next one, but little did I know how significant and personal it would be.

To mark my 10th marathon, I am raising money for First Touch, the charity that supports parents with seriously, often terminally ill children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St George’s Hospital, Tooting, in honour of our son Caspar.

Caspar was born on New Year’s Eve 2018. A much wanted second son for Sorrel and I, grandson, and little brother for Max. Sorrel’s pregnancy had been straight forward and easy, so it was a shock to everyone when Caspar was born seriously ill. Despite the best efforts of the amazing team at St George’s, Caspar was too ill to stay with us and died a week after he was born.

The support of the staff in the NICU and First Touch was invaluable and helped our family make the most of the precious few days that Caspar was with us.

But they can’t support families like ours without significant fundraising. To give you an idea, this is just some of the equipment that Caspar relied on:

Alongside medical equipment, First Touch also provided us with kits to take Caspar’s handprints, footprints, a box for a lock of his hair. The mementos that all new parents want to have.

I’d love to say I hope no-one will have to go through what we’ve been through, but sadly baby loss will effect one in four people, who will need the support of charities like First Touch.

Valencia is one of the flattest marathon courses in Europe, so I’m setting myself the additional challenge of achieving a personal best time - sub 3hr15min.

ALL donations will be massively appreciated. 

Thank you

Jonathan (& Sorrel)