Together with its partners, donors, volunteers, and trustees, MAD-Aid—a UK-based charity—Makes A Difference in the lives of children and adults through its core programmes.

These include delivering medical and humanitarian aid to Moldova and the Ukraine and providing support to mothers and children taking refuge from the war in Ukraine.

MAD-Aid also runs a day centre for children with special needs in Moldova, together with early intervention and rehabilitation services, and a care home for the elderly.

One of MAD-Aid's big projects at the moment is to raise money to renovate two hospital wards - the neonatal surgery ward and the septic ward - at the Mother and Child Institute, which is the main children's hospital in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. Neither ward has seen any significant investment since 1986 and they are in a dilapidated state, with tiles falling off the walls, peeling paint, dangerous electrical wiring and a ventilation system which hasn't worked in many years.

Here in the UK, MAD-Aid supports Ukrainians living on the Isle of Wight who have fled Ukraine following the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

MAD-Aid is an amazing charity - which I now have the pleasure of working with! See: www.mad-aid.org.uk or www.facebook.com/MADAidUK for more about its work.

The Saharan Ultra Challenge involves me flying out to Morocco and then taking part in two back-to-back marathons in the desert on October 13 and 14, 2023.

I also have the option of doing one marathon (42.2km) and one ultra-marathon 50km route - and I will decide if I am going for the longer challenge once I'm in the desert!

Although I am known as a runner, I might be speed-hiking at this challenge, because I think it will be hot, hot, hot, with temperatures likely to be around 27 deg C to 30 deg C in the desert.

I have never done an endurance challenge in the desert before - so this will be stepping into the unknown for me, as I don't know how I will cope with the heat (or sand getting in everything!).

As part of my training, I also completed the 50km North Downs Ultra Challenge on July 22, which started from Guildford and looped across several hills.

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