In a moment of madness last summer I allowed myself to be talked into running the Paris marathon in April. Whilst the idea of a weekend in Paris in the spring sounds appealing, the small matter of 26.2 miles on the Sunday morning is rather less so!

In order that my fast receding gut is not the only thing to benefit from this self inflicted torture, I have decided to run on behalf of the Sandpiper Trust and try to raise some money for this fantastic charity.

The Sandpiper Trust aims to provide Scotland’s doctors and nurses, who have been highly trained in accident and emergency skills by BASICS ( The British Association of Immediate Care, Scotland), with appropriate emergency medical equipment known as the Sandpiper Bag.

These kits cost over £1000 each and include more than 50 essential general medical and paediatric items. The Sandpiper Bag enables lifesaving “pre-hospital” procedures to be carried out during that critical period known as the “Golden Hour” when in the more remote and rural parts of Scotland an ambulance may be several hours away. The Sandpiper Bags with their uniform layout and colour coded contents have now become recognised as an international standard of immediate care.

All donations are greatly appreciated and for more information on the Sanpiper Trust please see the website www.sandpipertrust.org