My sister and I are running the London Marathon in memory of our big brother Billy, who tragically passed away on the 25th January 2021 at age 26.

We promised ourselves that we would keep his memory alive, by doing good in his name and pushing ourselves to complete challenges. We thought why not start with a bang and do one of the biggest challenges there is (especially for two non-runners like us) and run the marathon. 

We're asking for donations to Place2Be, a charity dedicated to working in schools with children facing mental health struggles. When Billy was a child he started to struggle with his mental health and if there was better help and education surrounding mental health in children within his school he may have found it easier to talk about this. 

When Billy was 9 he started having trouble breathing often in class and the teachers thought he had asthma, our mum took him to the hospital and they gave him X-rays but did not see a cause. It turns out Billy was having panic attacks and just didn't understand what they were. If there was more understanding and support about mental health problems within his school, he wouldn't have suffered in silence for so long.

• 1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem, and many continue to have these problems into adulthood.
• 50% of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14.

Place2Be offers mental health support in schools and free mental health training for school staff, so kids like Billy can have someone to talk to and teachers can recognise when kids need help. This is why we think Place2Be is the perfect charity to honour Billy's memory.

We miss and love you very much Billy x