Dear friends and colleagues,

I nearly ran the London marathon last year and spent many months training in all type of weather and time zones... only to injure myself a few weeks before the date, so I never made it to the start, let alone the finish line. I am trying again this year and am determined to at least start, even if I have to walk it.

As many of you know, I sit on the corporate  board of
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children Charity and I will be running to raise money for them.

All the money raised will go directly to help support the hospital's
urgently needed redevelopment project. Whilst the treatments the hospital provides are world-class, many of their buildings, are not. Their oldest buildings date back to the 1930's and are no longer fit for purpose. Wards are cramped and outdated and do not provide patients with the facilities they need; there is hardly enough room for life-saving equipment and little space for parents to rest alongside their children. As a parent myself, I can't imagine not being able to stay by my children's side when they are ill.

Sponsoring me will help fund the redevelopment and ensure GOSH can provide the facilities their patients deserve, giving them and their Mums and Dads greater privacy and dignity at a truly difficult time. You can help GOSH to keep up with the growing demand for their services and crucially provide world class care to more children who desperately need their help.

GOSH is a great cause and anyone of us who has children realises how precious good health is. GOSH can make a difference to so many children who have not had the luck to be in good health and enjoy their childhood the way they should. Often, GOSH is also many times the last hope for parents whose plight is to witness their child suffer.

In addition, as many of you know my mother spends a lot of time helping a few missionary men in Cameroon. A couple of years ago she wrote a book about her and the missionaries' efforts who face a very tough life in a challenging environemt to help extremely disatvantaged people in remote corners of the earth.  So I pledged to her that I would personally match every pound I raise for GOSHCC through you to her cause.

So please give generously knowing that your money will go to a good cause and every pound you give to GOSH will mean another great cause will also get precious funds from me.

Thank you so much for your generosity.

Matteo