Hi! 👋 I'm Josh, and I'm running the Birmingham Great Run Half Marathon (22km) on 7th May 2023.

Why I'm doing this

Like many, I've always been told that giving to charity was a good thing. But with so many causes to raise money for, and so many charities who spend ridiculous sums on marketing, it becomes a confusing area.

Sadly, every day an estimated 27,000 children die around the world from easily preventable causes. More than half of those childrens deaths can be attributed to acute respiratory infections, measles, diarrhea, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

With this knowledge I knew that I wanted to do all I could to help. Like many in the developed world, I enjoy a very good standard of living and free/cheap healthcare. It seemed unfair to keep resources to myself that could cheaply help others.

It costs MSF just $1.50 (£1.21) to vaccinate a child against Measles. If you were going to grab a coffee today, you could save a life and still get a coffee (just maybe a small this time!).

Along with setting up regular donations to charities, I also wanted to do larger fundraising activities. This is the first one. Selfishly, I also want something to keep me accountable and improve my fitness.

I'll be paying for the entry for the Great run myself (£39). All your donations will go to charity.

Additionally, my business will be matching donations up to £1000. If we meet the fundraising target we could give £2000 to Medicins Sans Frontier.

About MSF

If you've never heard of Doctors without Borders / Medicins Sans Frontier, they are an independant medical organisation providing vital healthcare treatments to those affected by conflicts, poverty and disasters.

In 2021 alone they treated 12.6 million patients and provided nearly 2 million measles vaccinations. This healthcare is something we often take for granted in the UK, but many around the world cannot access it. By means of MSF, they can.

After extensive research, MSF became my chosen charity because they have one of the best ratios of money spent on charitable activities vs money spent raising money. As of 2021, they spent $62M on their work, and $9.6M on raising money. You can check their government charity commission page here: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1026588&subid=0