On the 6th April I am running the London Landmarks half marathon. To make things even more interesting the week after I am then running the Paris Marathon. Not only will this be a memorable and difficult challenge, but I’d like to raise money for an extremely important cause. Around 3.5 million people across the UK are living with a rare, genetic or undiagnosed condition.

People living with genetic, rare and undiagnosed conditions face waiting years for a final diagnosis, limited understanding from healthcare professionals and poor coordination of care - all of which can have a huge impact on their mental and physical health, and can prevent equitable access to work and education.

Genetic Alliance UK work with their membership organisations and senior decision makers in the NHS, the Government and Parliaments in across the UK to ensure rare conditions can be diagnosed faster and care for people living with rare conditions is better coordinated. They make sure the voices and needs of the rare community are heard.

As a charity we rely on the generosity of our brilliant supporters to donate or fundraise for us. As with many charities, we are seeing a reduction in donations due to the cost of living crisis and we urgently need your support.