Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On Sunday 17 April Ian and I will be running the Brighton marathon for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in memory of my mum.

We lost our beautiful wife, mum and grandmother Pat to motor neurone disease on 4 January 2013. Mum was an intelligent, beautiful, vivacious, kind and caring woman who had so much life ahead of her. She provided strength to her husband Allan, and was quite simply the love and light of his life. She has been an amazing mum to Elizabeth and I, giving us the courage and confidence to find and follow our passions in life. She loved her work as a classroom support assistant at our local primary school, the Sacred Heart. We are comforted by the thought that over many years mum inspired many other children in their learning too.

Mum was approaching 70 and retirement but was still as glamorous and interested in life as ever. She hugely enjoyed walking her gorgeous dog, Ernest, over Hampstead Heath before stopping for hot chocolate. She kept up to date with the latest music, films and exhibitions but most of all she loved being with her family and friends, inevitably accompanied by a glass of red wine and some variety of scrumptious dessert.

She had been thrilled to learn that she was going to be a grandmother and was looking forward to swapping work in the classroom for helping Elizabeth out with bottles and nappies. Cruelly, she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease only weeks after finding out. Words will never express the heartbreak and sadness of seeing the effect of this illness on such a vibrant, amazing woman, week by week taking away her ability to speak, move, communicate. Mum got to spend time with her little grandson, James, who we know lifted her, but only for seven short weeks. I don’t think we will ever not feel that she has been greatly robbed of having more time with him and being able to hold him.

We are asking people to donate to the Motor Neurone Disease Association in mum’s memory. At present there is no real, effective treatment for motor neurone disease: there is not even an accurate means of diagnosing it. The MNDA both fund research into the disease and also provide practical and emotional support to people and their families living with it, and campaign on behalf of people living with motor neurone disease to improve their quality of care. They provided much needed support and assistance to us all following mum’s diagnosis and throughout her illness. The MNDA have also implemented really important measures such as the MND Charter which help raise awareness of key issues affecting peole living with MND. I've run a few races for mum, including the London marathon 2013, and am now embarking on another marathon (despite swearing never again half way round the London marathon!): Brighton, in April 2016. It's particularly special for me as Ian never got to meet mum, so I'm really proud of him for taking on this journey too.

We simply want to be part of helping to understand motor neurone disease better, and so give to other families who live with the condition in the future what was lacking for us – hope. Thanks so much for everyone for continuing to support us.

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.