On Thursday 8th June I'll be joining my Swiss Re colleagues to complete a 16 mile fundraising walk across London. Rain or shine, we'll be starting out from our office at the Gherkin, heading west towards Buckingham Palace, on through two Royal Parks, and over to Kensington Palace before turning north to Paddington, following along the Regents Canal towards Kings Cross and passing through Camden and Victoria Park, before returning to the finish line in the City.

We're doing this all in the name of our charity partner Guide Dogs, to help support 2,000 children and families living with sight loss. Every year 1,460 parents receive a new diagnosis that their child is blind or losing their sight. When parents hear the devastating news, they often don’t know where to turn and there is no immediate guidance or emotional support available. Families are frightened and have very limited access to practical support, until their child reaches school age.

We are fundraising to help Guide Dogs provide new hospital-based Guide Dogs Family Support Outreach Officers within specialist Paediatric Eye Hospitals across the UK. For the first time, there will be dedicated support for families whose child receives a new sight loss diagnosis. Family Support Outreach Officers will provide families with emotional and practical support from the point of diagnosis, helping them to understand their child’s diagnosis with compassion and reassurance. They’ll use their expertise to create a tailored plan for each family, ensuring that they can also benefit from the wider support from Guide Dogs Children’s Programmes. Guide Dogs is the largest provider of support services for children with sight loss, and I'm so excited to undertake this walk to help them raise vital funds. 

This will be a huge challenge for me personally, following my foot injury earlier this year - with fitness levels at an all time low, I've just finished my recovery physio and am finally back in normal shoes! I'm definitely feeling a bit nervous about making it all 16 miles to the finish line (it's more than a half marathon after all!), but hope to push myself and make a small contribution towards the support Guide Dogs give to children and families affected by blindness and sight loss. 

I've set a fundraising goal of £1,000 for my walk. As an added bonus, the Swiss Re Foundation will match every £ raised. I appreciate these are challenging times for many, but would truly appreciate any contribution you can make towards my fundraising goal! 

Many thanks for your support, Emily