My parents Peter and Beth decided very early in their married life to have a large family and to adopt. Mum gave birth to my my sister Katy in 1971. At that that time, the Children's Society helped to find adoptive families for vulnerable children. Through them, John came to our family when he was 7 weeks old in 1973. Two years later I was born. Then in 1977 the Children's Society brought my sister Mary to us when she was 3 weeks old.

We had a fun, rough and tumble childhood together in London and we continue to be close and firm friends today. Katy is a trainee teacher, John is a police officer in the Met and Mary is a nanny.I couldn't be more proud of my family and especially my parents, who were and are so generous and loving in their upbringing of us. Now they are amazing grandparents to our children too.

These days the Children's Society no longer arranges adoptions as this is taken care of in the mainstream social services sector. However, they do continue to care for vulnerable children in the UK. Please check out their website for more information about their work.

I owe the Children's Society everything - they brought our family together - and I am proud to do something in return by raising money for their continued good work.

Thank you so much for supporting this great cause by sponsoring me as I run the London Marathon this year. 

Margaret x