This year I’m planning to do a bit of running and raise a bit  (or maybe a lot) of money for charity. I get even fitter; my chosen charity gets some cash – a win-win formula if ever I saw one.

The first event is the Bath Half Marathon on 7 March, which I’ll be running for Dorothy House Hospice Care. I’ll be following that on 2 May – a frighteningly short interval – with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Neolithic Marathon, which covers a 26-mile route between Avebury and Salisbury. It’s tough, apparently … but just in case it’s not tough enough, I’ve signed up for the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon at the beginning of July. This is a two-day mountain navigation event that’s open to teams of two – I’ll be competing along with my running partner Jimmy Lowther – and we have to carry all our camping and safety equipment, as well as pounding round the Lake District against the clock.

It will be a challenge, but Dorothy House, my local hospice, does so much tremendous work for people with life-threatening diseases, and their families, that I want to try and raise a few quid to help keep the services going.

I'm not asking you to dig too deep, and I won't be at all offended if you decide not to sponsor me – but I can guarantee that every single donation will be very gratefully received.

And Dorothy House does need the money: the NHS only provides about 30 per cent of the hospice’s running costs, so £3 million will have to be raised this year, just to keep services at their current level. It's a vast amount, and the hospice relies on the support of local people to meet the target.

OK, that was the ask – now here's the technical bit: 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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – I raise more, while saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 

To find out more about the events, go to:

www.runninghigh.co.uk

www.wiltshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/WhatsOn/SarsenTrail/

www.slmm.org.uk