My story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Ive been running now for just over 2.5 years. I weighed over 19 stone and myself and 3 other friends decided running would be a good way to lose the excess timber! As an incentive 2 years ago we entered the Edinburgh hairy haggis relay, in the process I lost 5 stone and we lost over 12 stone between us.

After this adventure I caught the running bug, and this year I have entered the big one, the London Marathon. As this is the first and last time I will run the London marathon I decided it would be wonderful to make all my blood, sweat and tears go to a great cause.

My next door neighbour George Jackson is a 11 year old sports mad boy, into cricket, football and other sports and a supporter of Huddersfield and Liverpool. Last year he was diagnosed with leukemia. Over this period he has had wonderful support from his family, friends, Hinchcliffe Mill School, St. James's Hospital and Candlelighters. Candlelighters are based in Jimmy's in Leeds and do a fantastic job of supporting children suffering from malignant diseases or severe blood diseases in the area. They have helped George greatly during his long stints in hospital.

I am putting a great deal of effort into the London marathon, with a hectic 14 week training schedule: training 6 days a week, covering over 660 miles in total, peaking at 65 miles in 1 week alone and getting up at 5.30am to train some mornings. I aim to complete the 26.2 miles of the marathon in around 4 hours. However my efforts pale into insignificance when compared to what the many children treated at Jimmy's that candlelighters support go through.

Please dig deep and support a wonderful cause. 

Many thanks

Charles Crossland

 

Who are candlelighters?

We are a group of parents of children treated at the Yorkshire paediatric oncology and haematology Unit at St. James's Hospital in Leeds who are suffering from malignant diseases or severe blood diseases

Supported by relatives, friends, medical and nursing staff we are dedicated to combatting childhood cancer, leukaemia and serious blood disorders and to making the lives of the children and their families more bearable.

What do Candlelighters do?

Candlelighters raise money for toys, books, caravan/chalet holidays, laboratory research, medical equipment and additional staff for the Unit above that which the NHS provides.

For more information or if you would like to help please go to the Candlighters website.

How to donate

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.

You can sponsor me via any major credit or debit card, via Paypal, or if you are uncomfortable using online services I have a paper sponsor form which you can ask for.

So please dig deep and donate now.

 

Training Update

The training has been going really well. A new 10k PB at Dewsbury 10k of 48mins 28 seconds and a fastest 18mile training run of 2hrs 46mins.

 

Running week ending Sat 13th March saw the most miles run so far in one week at 63miles.

Sunday 28th March saw my best and longest run to date, 21.5 miles in 3hrs 10mins which isa couple of minutes under 4 hour marathon pace which is excellent.

Nearly there now, last big week before the tapering starts. Saturday is my final long long run with a 22 miler.

If all goes well that brings to a close my longest week so far with 70 miles. Im hoping for another good performance to give me a boost. Im amazed at everyones generosity, many thanks to everyone who has donated, it means a great deal to me, George and candllighters.

George even made the Huddersfield Daily Examiner front page which can be seen online here.

Training done, Im as prepared as I could be! It looks like a hot day Sunday, possibly the second hotest London Marathon on record, but I will give everything I have and some on race day. My aim is to run sub 4 hours which should bring me in the top third. Well here goes!

 

My gallery 10

My Teams

My company

My charity

The Candlelighters Trust

The Candlelighters Trust

Charity Registration No. 1045077

The Candlelighters Trust (Candlelighters) is Yorkshire’s pre eminent children’s cancer charity, providing practical, emotional and financial support to children living with cancer in Yorkshire and their families. For more information on Candlelighters www.candlelighters.org.uk

Donations 71

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Well done Charles.

Donation by Christine DIML on 17/05/10

£10.00

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Well done Charles.

Donation by Andy DIML on 17/05/10

£10.00

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fantastic achievement Charles, well done.

Donation by Laura Rawnsley on 03/05/10

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

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Well done, Charlie. Better late than never (I mean my sponsorship not your finish time !!)

Donation by Chris Turner on 28/04/10

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

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Have a fantastic day.

Donation by Sam Hartley on 25/04/10

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

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You and Gary Speed are running! Two legends at the same time good luck As usual better late than never,

Donation by Paul Hardwick on 25/04/10

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

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Hi Charles. Hope you have a great day. A fantastic effort and a worthy cause. From Carole Anthony Matt and Dan in Sheffield

Donation by Carole Haynes on 24/04/10

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

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Worthy cause, felt guilty winning the bet so matching it!

Donation by James Crossland on 24/04/10

£50.00

+ £14.10 Gift Aid

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Debts settled! My brother James bet me £50 I would raise over £2000... thanks to everyone’s amazing generosity I have raised over £3000 . I am pleased to have lost this bet and pay this to an exceedingly worthy charity.

Donation by Charles Crossland on 23/04/10

£50.00

+ £14.10 Gift Aid

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Good luck Charles - we'll be looking out for you at the finish!

Donation by Helen Cooper on 23/04/10

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Don't know how you do it. I feel worn out just watching the runners on the telly...

Donation by Margaret Gannon on 23/04/10

£5.00

+ £1.41 Gift Aid

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Best of luck, hope you set a new charlie record, I'll be looking out you on the telly.

Donation by Richard Simpson on 22/04/10

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

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Run Forest Run!! Good luck, have a fantastic day.

Donation by John Field on 21/04/10

£5.00

+ £1.41 Gift Aid

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Out of all of my FD students, I'd never have had you down as a runner! Good luck Charles - it's for a great cause and you'll do great.

Donation by Georgina Blakeley on 19/04/10

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

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Good luck Charles - hope you enjoy the day! Great cause too!

Donation by Chris & Naomi Smith on 16/04/10

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

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As Promised

Donation by As Promised on 15/04/10

£260.00

+ £73.33 Gift Aid

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Good luck Charles from The Cartwrights xx

Donation by rachel Cartwright on 14/04/10

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Charles. Glad to hear that yoyu are feeling much better george and hope to see you soon. Andrew, Helen, Matthew & Thomas

Donation by Andrew Sykes on 06/04/10

£25.00

+ £7.05 Gift Aid

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Good luck Charles, a very worthy cause. Glad you are back on the road to recovery George.

Donation by Nicola & David Milner on 29/03/10

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

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Good luck for April 25th with our best wishes,

Donation by Christine and John on 28/03/10

£25.00

+ £7.05 Gift Aid

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Good luck Charles! Well done to George for being so brave and smiling throughout his treatments.

Donation by Kathryn Pilling on 27/03/10

£30.00

+ £8.46 Gift Aid

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Good luck for the big day Charles. We will be rooting for you!

Donation by Carol and Steve Hirst on 26/03/10

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

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Great cause, sunny days ahead for George! Good luck with the run

Donation by Carolyn and Chris Booth on 26/03/10

£50.00

+ £14.10 Gift Aid

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Donation by Norman Barnes on 26/03/10

£5.92

+ £1.67 Gift Aid

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Wishing you all the very best Charles. Best wishes Gary, Kirstie, Emily and Abigael.

Donation by Gary Kershaw on 25/03/10

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

Donation summary

  • * Online donations$2,582.68
  • Offline donations$2,481.11
  • Text donations$0.00
  • Total raised$5,063.79
  • Gift Aid$668.75

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.