Happy New Year! In 2024 I will be taking part in RED January for the 7th year running, this time supporting The Adecco Group chosen charity partner Barnardo's. I will also be marathon training as I am running London marathon for the first time in April. It will be my 6th marathon. My first official marathon was Manchester in 2015, and the other 5 were virtual marathons during lockdown. (London x3, Edinburgh and Manchester) by running along the Preston Guild Wheel each time and the A6 Preston road into Manchester and back. I am a plodder, always running at the back at parkruns and races, but for me it's not a race. It's a way of life and being a part of my cummunity where you can walk, jog run or volunteer. In my case, I do all of the above. On New Years Day I completed my 300th official parkrun by volunteering as Tail Walker at Preston parkrun supporting a young mother and her 8 week old baby on their very first 5K parkwalk. I do parkrun tourism most Saturdays with my running group, Red Rose Road Runners on Tour and I volunteer most Sundays at Avenham junior parkrun as Tail Walker and Marshal in addition to being a part of the core volunteer team.

All of this has been so much fun, but it also helps my mental health, manage a long term health condition (type 1 diabetes), and I get the unique opportunity to support local charities and charities that are close to my heart. This is my first year supporting Adecco's chosen charity Barnardo's so I am very excited about this opportunity to take part along with my colleagues.

Please have a read:

The Adecco Group are extremely proud and excited to be partnering with Barnardo’s, the UK's largest children’s charity, who support thousands of young people and their families.

We're working with them to raise awareness and vital funds to one of their programmes: Employment, Training and Skills (ETS). This programme reaches young people aged 16-24 who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) – which is a cause that’s close to our heart. Through this programme, they provide employability, education and wraparound support for young people in need and the success of the programme sees around 70% of young people move on to a positive destination.

Barnardo’s has ambitious plans to support 750,000 young people by 2025, and we are looking forward to aiding in this mission through our partnership.

Thank you for your support.