There are 16 million disabled people in the UK. That’s one in four of us. When you are disabled, you're twice as likely to be unemployed, and getting care is a huge struggle. On average, the cost of living is an extra £975 per month for a disabled person. It’s wrong and unacceptable.

We live in world that, while it is becoming more accepting, largely prefers to silence  the disabled community. Christopher’s daughter - and Barnaby and Sapphire’s little sister - Pollyanna, lost her leg at the age of two. Going through life with an amputee in our family really has opened our eyes to the inaccessibility of our daily lives. 

A few years ago, Pollyanna was unable to wear her prosthetic leg, so was faced with the decision of whether to go to school in her wheelchair or on crutches. Her wheelchair is easy, however her crutches give her blisters on her elbows and hands, and are frankly exhausting. She went for the crutches.

She went for them because when you are in a wheelchair, your disability is the first thing anyone sees. With the crutches she could ignore it because she was at eye level. She could pretend she was standing and had no disability at all.

Being different is not a weakness, it is a strength. However in this case, being different was more destructive to her than her disability itself.

We must strive to create a world where every disabled person feels they have value as a member of society. This change is possible but can never happen until society sees difference as a blessing, rather than a burden.

Ableism separates us, isolates us and oppresses us, all of us. So, we are running the London Marathon for Scope, to create a fairer society for disabled people like Pollyanna.

Scope aims for a future that’s fair to disabled people, always. Together we’ll use our collective power to change attitudes and end the injustice.

Please sponsor Chopper, Barno and Sapphy to run the London Marathon! Thank you so much for all of your generosity.