Hi and thanks for visiting our fundraising page.

G-Force are;

Dale Geach, Stuart Weir, Colin Hodgson, Kelsey Ramshaw, Carl Trueman, Gavin Peralta, Mike Logan, Neil Tilson, Julian Nash, Lisa Waugh, Andrew Bell, Matt Hedley, Matt Buck, Diego Peralta, MichaelCollins, Colin Thatcher, Roland Peacock, Jonathan Henry, Mark Hill

This year we are running the Great North Run to raise money for a cause which is very close to mine and team member Stuart Weirs hearts. Oliver and Daniel, our sons were diagnosed with Autism in 2010 and since then we have received great support and useful information from a number of sources including the National Autistic Society.

With help from our friends and colleagues we hope to raise (and hopefully exceed) our team joint target of £5000 for the NAS.

For those of you who know me know I'm a four times veteran of the Great North Run, but for about half of the team this is their first time. All fourteen of us will be training hard for the event which is a massive physical challenge for us amateurs. Some of the team (Kelsey, Lisa, Stuart and Carl) have only taken up running this last month in acceptance of the gruelling challenge of running 13.2 miles. We'll keep you posted on how we are doing in future page updates.

Autism is much more common than most people think and there are around half a million (approx 1 in 100) diagnosed people in the UK. Including their families autism touches the lives of over 2 million people everyday.

For those who don't know much about Autism, it is a serious, lifelong and disabling condition. Without the right support, it can have a profound effect on individuals and families. But it simply doesn't get the attention it deserves, which means that people affected by autism don't get the help, support and understanding they need.

Here is a little bit about some of the key activities which your money will contribute towards:

£25 - pays for the first stage of training a volunteer befriender, who will spend a few hours a week with a person with autism or their family offering support or friendship.

£75 - pays for three families to attend the EarlyBird programme, which provides vital help and support to families of pre-school children with autism (Stuart and Me met each other at one).

£100 - helps pay for a child to be diagnosed at an NAS assessment centre.

£1000 - replaces play equipment at an NAS school and benefits more than 50 children.

£2500 - gives a person with autism the opportunity to gain full-time, supported employment. Companies taking part in the scheme include Boots, HSBC, Marks & Spencer and BT.

Please help us match / exceed our fundraising target by donating generously to this great charity who help a great deal of people in the UK who are affected by autism through education and support.

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, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.