I was fortunate enough to take a break from work last year, and as I had been generally abusing my body by eating (the wrong things) and drinking too much (alcohol) for the previous twenty years I decided it was time to get myself in shape. My rationale was simple, if I don't start looking after my health now, then I never will. Clearly that wouldn't be fair on my wonderful wife (Dominique) or my three children (Max, Evelyn & Cecilia).             

So I thought to myself, If you are going to get fit, then you may as well do it properly......and I set myself the challenge of completing the London Marathon on 25th April 2010.  

This will be my first Marathon, and boy do I hate running.  Every step of the training so far has been incredibly painful and challenging, there has been a lot of sweat, swearing and sometimes tears.    

Now, having gone to all this effort, the very least I could do is to try to raise some money for a charity. 

Being a father myself, I wanted to raise money for children at a disadvantage, and after a little research I found out about The Childrens Trust. 

The Childrens Trust is a national charity providing care, therapy and education to some of the UK's severely disable children, in a home-from-home environment. Some of these children have been born with disabilities and some have suffered a brain injury as the result of a tragic accident or illness, like meningitis. Most cannot walk or talk, and have impaired hearing or vision or both.  Many cannot swallow and require feeding by tube. Some cannot breathe independently and depend on artificial ventilation. 

Why donate to The Childrens Trust??  What do they Do??

- There are around 75 children in their care at any one time, and they also help hundreds of families every year

- Not only residential care, but also short breaks (providing respite for carers)

- Rehabilitation for children with acquire brain injuries

- Transitional care between hospital and home

- Outreach, caring for children in their own home

- The Childrens Trust School, St Margaret's

Some key facts for you on The Childrens Trust:-

- They opened the UK's first dedicated paediatric rehabilitation unit, specializing in sever brain injury and still    provides over 75% of the nations beds for intensive rehabilitation of children with acquired brain injuries. 

- Every year year over 5,000 children in the UK sustain severe head injuries. This is in addition to the unrecorded number of children who suffer non-traumatic brain damage caused by stroke, brain tumour and infections such as meningitis. 

- Every day 75 children in the UK are born or diagnosed with a severe disability or rare syndrome.

- Over 250 families benefit from the services of the Trust each year.

- The Childrens Trust runs the only school in the UK entirely dedicated to the education and care of children with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD).

- The school has it's own developmental curriculum specifically for children with PMLD, and the curriculum has been used as the blueprint for other schools all around the world!

One can only imagine the total dedication of the families and the members of The Childrens Trust in providing such exceptional care to these children.  When I think of this, all of a sudden my training for the marathon does not seem so burdensome and the pain is merely trivial.   

I would be honored if you could spare any money that you have to donate to their cause. 

- Every penny raised will go straight to The Childrens Trust. 

Thankyou

Brett

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.