<p> <p class="MsoPlainText"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On New Year&rsquo;s Day, whilst probably still under the influence of alcohol, I stupidly agreed to sign up for the Eastbourne half marathon with my extremely fit and healthy PE teacher friend.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Despite having avoided the gym, and any form of exercise for the best part of 10 months, for some reason I thought it would be a great idea to enter myself into a 13 mile race with someone who is ten times fitter than me. As my training progresses I am beginning to realise this was a mistake.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">However there's no way out now, especially as I've agreed to run on behalf of Royal National Institute for the Blind, which is <a href="http://www.mrm-london.com/">MRM</a>&rsquo;s charity of the year for 2012</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I'm sure everyone has heard of <a href="http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/Pages/about_us.aspx">RNIB</a> but like me probably didn't know much about the work the charity does or the people it helps.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">&ldquo;<em>Almost two million people are living with sight loss in the UK. When you lose your sight, you feel like you lose everything</em>.&rdquo; (RNIB)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">RNIB is the UK's leading charity offering information, support and advice to almost two million people with sight loss.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The charity helps anyone with a sight problem - not just with braille and talking books -but with imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges. It also provides information on eye conditions and provides support and advice for people living with sight loss.&nbsp;</span></p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">For more information on the charity and to see first-hand how it helps people please see a </span><a style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;" href="http://www.mrm-london.com/2012/01/mrm-chooses-rnib-as-its-charity-of-the-year/">blog</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> by my colleague Jenny Crossland, whose father was registered blind five years ago.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;ll agree the work the RNIB does is extremely worthwhile. So here comes my feeble attempt at a plea for help...I appreciate times are tough for everyone at the moment (apparently there's some kind of global economic meltdown going on?) but if you could spare a few pennies for those who need help it would be greatly appreciated. In return I promise I'll work harder at my training, without moaning about it, and will try to finish the race without collapsing half way round!&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thank you,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Charlotte xxx</span></p> </p> </p>