Our twin boys, Ace and Felix, were born at 32 weeks and had to be admitted to neonatal care at Basingstoke and North Hants Hospital, where they received the most fantastic care from an incredible team of doctors and nurses.

Every 5 minutes, a baby is admitted to neonatal care in the UK.Bliss is the leading UK charity for babies born premature or sick. They rely on donations to fund their work, and without our help they won't be able to reach the 100,000 babies needing neonatal care each year.Your donation to my page will help Bliss to drive improvements in neonatal care, to ensure that the needs of babies are at the heart of policy and planning for the future, and to provide information and support to all families with a baby born premature or sick.

Abs and I were lucky because there was space in NICU in Basingstoke for our boys to be admitted there, however, not all parents are quite as lucky and we could easily have been sent to Southampton or Winchester for them to be cared for. This would have meant daily journeys back and forth to see the boys, whilst I was also still working, which must be extremely difficult for those that have to go through it. 

On average parents will travel 27 miles to visit their baby in neonatal care, with some families travelling up to 100 miles, and Go The Distance is an event to help raise awareness of this fact and support for Bliss as they campaign for the Government to introduce financial support for families with a baby in neonatal care. The event is running for 13 weeks, from 1st July 2020 until 30th September 2020, and involves participants walking, running or cycling 27 miles, 100 miles or another distance that is connected to their own neonatal experience. 

With this in mind, I have decided to take on the challenge of running 100 miles in 8 weeks, as this was how long our boys spent in NICU. However, if I receive more than £500 in donations, I will commit to running a further 100 miles in the remaining 5 weeks of the event (100 miles for each of our boys). This additional aspect of the challenge could very well be a mistake, so if you would find entertainment in putting me through that kind of torture (Adam, Jake, Daz to name a few) make sure you donate!

Thank you