Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving fundraising page.  On Sunday, 20th October, I will be running a half marathon, in the BUPA Great Birmingham Run 2013 for Diabetes UK, in memory of my friend Michael Williams, also known as "Jimmy" by many who knew him.

How to donate. You can make a much appreciated secure online donation at the top of this page or you can make a quick and easy text donation via your mobile.You send a text message to 70070 from your mobile, and type in MWJW48 (the JustTextGiving code for my run) and the amount you want to give (£5 or £10) You can make as many donations as you like & you will be able to make donations after the race until the new year.

Example text:   MWJW48 £10   to  70070      Simples  : )

Jimmy was a very likeable wise cracking character and was always a great laugh, there was never a dull moment in his company, as he was always the life and soul of any activity. I had known him all my life, he was someone who i and many others looked up to, he was like a big brother to me and i was proud to be his friend. He had always been very fit, loved sport, particularly athletics and was a very good rugby player. In his day, i honestly never met anyone who could run faster than him.

In his late teens he joined the British Army and served his country in several conflict zones at the time. At 26, Michael, aka "Jimmy" was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and sadly he died in 2009 from many of the diseases complications, that had also claimed the lives of a number of his family members as a result of diabetes. His loss was deeply felt by all because he was such a terrific guy.

A quick bit about me. As a young lad most knew me by my school days nickname, Fred. Just in a case you are one of those who knew me back then and wondered who Frank was,lol.  Anyway, after slowly recovering from a long term chronic fatigue related illness myself, i am proud to run this half marathon in memory of Jimmy because for a great many years that was definately not possible. He would have really valued this achievment and what it took for me to be able to do it. Oh yeh, one other thing, i have never ran in a mass participation race like this before.

A quick bit about Diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that can occur suddenly in Type 1 diabetes or gradually in Type 2. People with diabetes have high blood sugar, either because their body isn’t producing enough insulin, or because cells don’t respond to the insulin that is produced.

4.5% of the population are currently estimated to be diabetic, with upto 30% undiagnosed. Right now there are seven million adults at high risk of developing diabetes. By 2025 it is estimated that over four million people will have diabetes, which is now one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK today.

At the moment Type 1 is incurable, though Type 2 with a carefully monitored healthy lifestyle can be kept under control if diagnosed early but left unnchecked it can cause devastating complications. Your greatfully recieved donations will help fund much needed research into the condition and help improve the lives of people with Diabetes. I think Jimmy would be very pleased and proud that you have done so, in support of this charity in his name.  If you knew Jimmy or not, thanks for supporting my fundraising run for Diabetes UK, Its greatly appreciated.

For more information please visit

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.