Yeldall Manor provides residential rehabilitation to help men overcome drug and/or alcohol dependency problems. Through my church, I've been fortunate enough over the years to get to know a number of ex-Yeldall residents personally, and have had ample opportunity to get better acquainted with the remarkable work the charity does.

For the last five years I've been a keen runner in my spare time, but I'm only just getting round now to entering my first marathon early next month - and even as marathons go, it's a biggie (it's dubbed "Britain's Most Beautiful", but the hills must also make it a contender for "Britain's Most Painful", too). I've never been much good at raising sponsorship, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to break my fundraising duck - and Yeldall Manor was naturally the charity which immediately came to my mind.