Like the many others out there, I am running the London Marathon in 2 weeks, on April 26th!    It’s my first Marathon, and I am very nervous, but am on track according to my little training schedule which I conveniently nicked from this book – Marathon from Start to Finish. 

I’ve chosen to run on behalf of a wonderful charity called the NSPCC (National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children)  - the UK's leading charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children.  It is the only children's charity in the UK with statutory powers, enabling it to act to safeguard children.  (Charity Registration No 216401).

I’ve been fundraising for the NSPCC for the past 4 years, as I believe so strongly in what they can do, and to that end, I’ve arranged a Silent Auction for the past 3 years.  This year, I decided to focus on the raising funds as part of the Marathon Team. (It would be great to see you come out and cheer for us on the day!)    

Just to give you an idea of what the money can do, last year, I arranged a Silent Auction event which raised  £5,500 – enough to recruit and train three ChildLine counsellors. Each of these counsellors will speak to 100 children in their first year working with us, giving comfort and security to children with no one else to turn to.    Just to give you an idea of scale, in 2006/7, the NSPCC provided counselling to over 600,000 children. By 2011, they plan to provide counselling support for 1.2 million calls plus 380,000 online and SMS contacts. 

Now what’s even more cool is that Microsoft UK will match whatever I raise for the NSPCC, so a  real incentive for you to donate!

I have a target of £2000, so I’ve got a long way to go!    It doesn’t matter how little or how much you donate, be it in US dollars, Euros, Canadian Dollars, Aussie Dollars, or British Pounds.  It will all matter.

Thanks for your support – I really appreciate it.