Losing someone you love blows a hole in your universe. As an adult, grief shatters you but you have the support of friends and family, and most importantly you can ask for help when you need it. Lacking the vocabulary to express their pain, children who lose a loved one can often get overlooked.

Steph and I lost our daughter, Juliette, in 2002. She was 5, and had been fighting leukaemia for 19 months. Our other children, Elodie, Pierre and Raphi adored their larger-than-life sister, who had a way of making everyone feel special and loved. They were 7, 3 and 1 when Juliette died. Our usefulness as parents in the midst of grief was limited, which is why we are indescribably grateful for the services offered by a charity like Child Bereavement UK, and the reason we have chosen to support them.

1 in every 29 children has lost either a parent or a sibling. 6 young people between the ages of 1 and 19 die in the UK every day. Every day, 60 children will lose a parent. This is a huge number of children mourning a parent, brother or sister, and these losses are potentially life-ruining. Young people involved in the criminal justice system are 3-4 times more likely to have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. Well-timed and appropriate support following a devastating death can make the critical difference.

Steph had planned to run the Halstead Marathon on the 11th May, but after training up to 10 miles he developed knee trouble. There's still time for him to manage 26.2 miles later in the year but in the meantime, I am ploughing on with training for my third London marathon.

Those of you who know us will appreciate we are not natural long distance runners, but a pair determined to make some sense of the death of our daughter.

We really appreciate you reading our reasons for supporting this fantastic charity, and for any donation you able to offer. 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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.