It is said every journey begins with a single step, mine began on my sofa! I was watching the Great North run 2021 and, partly due to immanently turning 40, and partly due to the trauma of the Covid lockdown, I decided to take on the Great North run for myself!

I’d never run before; had no idea where to begin; but with
the incredible support of parkrun guides, and the belief of my family and friends, I’ve begun an incredible running journey which has brought me fun, friendship, fitness and a bit of pain (and lots of coffee!). My amazing guide runner, Nik Kieran and I are about to take on something amazing, but we can’t do it without your help.

Every day, 250 more people join the 2 million already living with sight loss. This number is set to double by 2050, which is why our work is more important than ever before, however, we can only continue our life-changing work, such as our guide and buddy dog services, mobility training, education support, sighted guides and much more with your support."Having a guide dog is a life-changing experience and I'm phenomenally grateful to Guide Dogs for enabling me to be more independent" - Priya, guide dog owner.How your funds will change live...£125 buys a Starter Kit for a new guide dog owner£332 could provide eight weeks of Early Diagnosis Support to a child with sight loss and their family£710 could buy a Birthing Kit containing all the essential equipment for a guide dog mum to safely deliver her puppiesIt's thanks to people like you that we can continue to provide life-changing services, So, a huge thank you for donating anything you can, all amounts, big and small will make a massive difference in changing lives in my community. To find out more about our training journey, search social media for vision2run. With love and sincere thanks, Ruth (AKA Roshni), and Nik X