Running the London marathon has been an ambition of mine since I was a little girl. I seem to have had a few excuses over recent years, but 2022 is my year. Before this year I’ve never run more than 10km, so it’s a huge challenge, but one I’m determined to do.  

I’m running for a very special charity, The Sick Children’s Trust, which my Dad helped to set up in the 1980s. The charity provides families with a seriously sick child a comfortable place to stay close to hospital, to enable them to stay near their child. I can’t think of anything worse than any of my children being sick, let alone also having to worry about how to find or pay for accommodation to be near them in hospital. This is how the SCT help so many families. Dad set this up when my brother Stuart was unwell as he could see how vital it is for parents to be close by to their children at such a traumatic time.

As well as the charity, I’m running for my lovely Dad who ran the London Marathon many times when I was a child, always for the Sick Children’s Trust. We used to go up to London as a family to cheer him on every year and I can't wait for Matt and the children to do the same for me this time. Ever since Daddy died when I was 11 years old, it’s been my aim to follow in his footsteps (although at a much slower pace!) and I'm sure he would be so happy to see me running for the SCT 40 years after he started the charity. 

Thank you so much in advance for sponsorship, it is appreciated so much and will definitely help keep me going around the 26 miles. For every £35 I raise, it will provide a family with a place to stay for a night nearby their sick child which is invaluable in itself.