It started 3 years ago, I met my good friend Adam. Ok no one's perfect - he is a mad Liverpool fan, but he is very witty with it and makes me laugh. A lot.

Back then, he was beginning to recover from a very severe accident and had arrived at the Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability. The staff worked with him from day 1 to begin to get his life back again. First a little keyboard that 'speaks' to allow him to talk again, then a motorised wheelchair so he can move around by himself without waiting to be pushed.

Then speech therapy sessions, shopping trips to Putney (to buy yet more Liverpool stuff), art classes, pottery classes, music therapy, talking circles. The list goes on and on..

Adam has come a long, long way in these three short years. It's fair to say he is still on his journey, but the Royal Hospital has been with him every step of the way and to someone like me who does not often say 'wonderful' or 'brilliant', they are wonderful and brilliant. And not just to Adam, to Adam's Mum, and to all of the patients.

So.

Now Annette and I are going to run a long way to help the hospital. 53.2 miles to be precise (each). 2 marathons in 1 week. First - Paris on 15/April and then London on 22/April (but not the bit in between!). We'd like to complete the distance in nine hours overall. But then again - just making it at all would be quite a relief too.

My wonderful employers (good grief I said the W word again) are matching every donation you make. THANK YOU DELL COMPUTERS. And if you pay UK Tax, your donation is worth 28% more too. And you can claim a tax rebate back at the end of the year.

If you make one big donation this year - please make this one - your contribution will at least double! It's really easy and you can do it in seconds.

THANK YOU!!

Richard