In 2024, I am turning 40. To celebrate, I’ve decided to set myself a once-in-a-lifetime challenge of running the 2024 London Marathon with the aim of changing the lives of families of severely ill children by supporting them to care for their children at home instead of in hospital. I’ll therefore be running the Marathon to raise money for WellChild. 

WellChild Childrens Nurses provide essential care and practical support to children and young people requiring long-term or complex care. They play a crucial role in enabling children to leave hospital and be cared for at home, reducing the practical, emotional and financial impact for families. WellChild is also committed to funding high quality, innovative projects designed to have a positive impact for seriously ill children both now and in the future. This includes WellChilds Helping Hands programme which continues to go from strength to strength, working with volunteers from companies and organisations across the country to tackle essential projects in the homes of children with serious illness. Those volunteers provide the manpower and enthusiasm for projects such as bedroom and garden makeovers.

Although I love running a couple of times a week 3-5k, running the London Marathon involves a 42k run, so it’s going to take a huge effort to get to that point. The plan is to get to a solid 10k by Christmas and then follow a 16 week training plan to get up to the full 42k on the day. It’s daunting and I don’t know how I’m going to do it. But I have the encouragement of friends and family and an amazing running partner, Heather, who I can share the ups and downs with. 

The training will involve early starts, running in the dark and cold through the winter months, so knowing I’ll be making a huge difference to WellChild will really spur me on. If you can spare any change to help reach my target for this amazing charity and make those hard moments during training a bit easier, I’d be so grateful! 

Thank you!

Ps if you happen to be at the London Marathon next year and see me, please do give me a shout out - I’m sure I’ll need it!