This autumn we're taking on the Oxford Half Marathon, hoping to raise as much as possible in support of the work of Asylum Welcome, an Oxford-based charity welcoming asylum seekers, refugees and detainees who have fled persecution and danger in their own countries and seek refuge in Oxford and Oxfordshire.

We're a team from the International Migration Institute (www.imi.ox.ac.uk) and the Refugee Studies Centre (www.rsc.ox.ac.uk), both part of the University of Oxford's Department of International Development (www.qeh.ox.ac.uk). Some of us are taking on this distance for the first time; others are hoping to break personal targets - but together we're hoping to raise as much as possible to support an organisation which in 2015/16, among its other activities:

* Made contact with 2976 people seeking help from its main office;

* Handed out 2321 bags of food;

* Made 2088 volunteer visits to detainees;

* Had 1788 visits to or contact with their three advice services (youth, adult and family and education);

* Helped 1029 individual asylum seekers, refugees and detainees;

* Served 647 hot lunches to clients;

* Supported 88 unaccompanied young asylum seekers and refugees;

* Made 54 bookings onto educational courses.

We'd be incredibly grateful for your donation to our joint fundraising efforts and any words of encouragement you can give us as we sweat our way through some muggy Oxford summer and autumn training!

Alex Betts, Jenny Peebles, Marie Godin, Mathias Czaika, Paul Kellner & Robtel Neajai Pailey