In a moment of weakness I agreed to take part in the Great North Run with my friend and colleague Claire Stephenson.

I am not a runner, this is not going to be easy but I am taking it seriously, I have my training programme in place and am raring to go!

The reason I am raising money for Bowel Cancer UK, well there are two. Firstly I am running in memory of my husband's grandmother who died after a battle with bowel cancer three years ago. Jean was a force to be reakoned with and I am proud to be a part of her family.

Secondly, I am the Scotland Operations Manager for the charity and am therefore all too aware of the fantastic work that this dedicated team of people do. The support that the charity provides to people effected by bowel cancer is vital. Over 40,000 people are diagnosed a year in the UK with Bowel Cancer and over 16,000 die from the disease. Bowel Cancer is highly treatable if diagnosed early.

The charities work can only continue with the generosity of people like you. Please sponsor my efforts, even a little amount can make a difference.

Thank you so much for your attention. In exchange for your sponsorship I will keep you up to date with my training, post embarrassing pictures of said training and I will be organising events to raise some cash that you can partake in too.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.