I DID IT! I ran in the Brighton Marathon yesterday on a beautiful sunny day with an estimated 80,000 very supportive spectators along the route. I was very pleased to be able to run the whole way and it was an amazing experience. I am already thinking about how to do it even better next year. 

I met the small but very enthusiastic group of workers and volunteers from Maternity Worldwide along with the team of 8 other runners. This great charity currently relies entirely on raising money from events such as this one, and needs all the money they can get to carrying on with their very crucial work. 

If I can run my way along 26.2 miles of the Brighton seashore, can you find a few pounds to add to the pot? It costs as little as £15 to support a safe birth in their projects in Ethiopia. That is not a lot of money to make such a huge impact on so many lives. 

To remind you of how important this work is, Maternity Worldwide focus on preventing maternal death in childbirth and on improving the survival of newborn babies in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. They do this by improving access for women and girls to hospitals and establishing new rural clinics. They also help facilitate community-based income generation and savings schemes, which helps those least able to afford it to pay for healthcare. The charity also help to set up women’s groups that provide health education, information, advice and support so that they are better able to take decisions over their own healthcare.