<p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As many of you will be aware I am running the London Marathon on April 17^th&nbsp;2011. I am sure a number of you know someone who is running a marathon this year, however I can almost guarantee none of them are less suited to running this kind of distance than me.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The reason I have put myself through this training and will kill myself running for a whole Sunday morning (hopefully just the morning!!!!) is to raise money for a brilliant cause.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For those that don't know, my Mother is an optician and has been to Africa twice with a charity called Vision Aid Overseas (VAO -<a href="http://www.vao.org.uk/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.vao.org.uk/</span></a>) as a volunteer.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">VAO send professional volunteers to the poorest countries in the world and help bring site to some of the millions of people who are affected by poor vision. By recycling donated glasses and training local medical workers VAO gives many people every year a chance at seeing more clearly, many of whom have never seen the world without blurred vision.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;">As you can imagine keeping the charity running is very expensive and a small donation from you will help them organise more trips, send more volunteers and give site to more people around the world</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving &ndash; they&rsquo;ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they&rsquo;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&rsquo;s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So please dig deep and donate now.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;">Many thanks,</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;">James</p> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>