I was supposed to run the event in April 2020 but the onset of Covid and many event cancellations means that I am now doing this in October 2022.

My original fundraising page was on Virgin Money Giving but they are no longer the sponsors for the event and are no longer using the service for fundraising hence my switch over to Just Giving.

At the point of writing this, I have already raised £2546.33 on the Virgin Money site, which I have added as an 'offline donation' here. This was originally so the William Budd Ward at the Bath RUH could buy comfier reclining chairs for family members who were staying overnight with loved ones. However, the challenges faced due to Covid meant that funds were spent in different ways. I received this message from the FF charity in August 2021:

We have recently been able to purchase a bladder scanner for William Budd Ward. This is an invaluable piece of equipment that ensures we are able to identify reason for patient abdominal pain and reduces infection risks by being able to assess the volume of urine in patients bladder rather than having to insert a tube unnecessarily.

I have done a copy and paste below of the original story from there and all subsequent updates so any new donators can see the history of my fundraising.

EDIT JANUARY 2021: My place has been transferred to the race in April 2022.

EDIT AUGUST 2020: unfortunately the rescheduled VLM has now been cancelled and will only run with elite athletes and as a virtual race. I have decided not to do the virtual race but I will continue fundraising to try and meet my new target of £3000.

I will run a minimum of 5km a day throughout August which will finish with 2 races at Castle Combe on Sunday 30th and Westonbirt Triathlon on Monday 31st.

I still have a place at the rescheduled Devizes half marathon on the 4th October, which happens o be the same day that London would have been on. I'll wear my vest and take my collection tin too!

My story

I'm lucky enough to have secured a place in the London Marathon 2020 for the fantastic Forever Friends Appeal who raise money for the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

We have chosen the William Budd ward as a beneficiary. In early 2019, the staff on this ward cared for a family member before they passed away just 6 weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. They supported the whole family and made our time at the hospital more bearable, so this is our way of saying thank you. It is also going to be one of the last wards to move into the new Dyson Cancer Centre when it's finished but is currently in a part of the hospital that was built in the 1940s and is no longer fit for purpose.

Running the London Marathon has been a dream of mine and I'm so pleased that I can raise money in the process, for a charity that means a lot to me. I will be wearing my RUH vest to every event that I attend on the run-up to the marathon to spread the word about the charity. So far there is:

Mud Nation 10k Obstacle Course Race (OCR) - Saturday 26th October 2019

Secret Santa 10 miler - Sunday 22nd December 2019

Wiltshire 10 miler - Sunday 9th February 2020 - cancelled due to storm Ciara. Completed the distance on a treadmill instead to earn the medal virtually.

Bath Half Marathon - Sunday 15th March 2020 - I decided to run this virtually around the Wiltshire countryside due to Covid.

Devizes Half Marathon - Sunday 5th April 2020 - cancelled and rescheduled to the same date as London so I cannot take part.

Run at least 5km every day in August 2020 - a self organised run inspired by my colleague Charli.

London Marathon - Sunday 26th April 2020 - postponed until the 4th October 2020 due to the Corona virus.

I am also planning a couple of events to raise money:

Body Shop Party - Tuesday 10th December 2019

Raffle - draw around Christmas time

Teddy Bear's Picnic and non-uniform day at work - Friday 31st January 2020

Cake sale for my 250th parkrun - Saturday 1st February 2020