A few years ago I was lucky enough to meet, through my wife's work, a beautiful little girl called Helena. At that time, it was recognised that Helena's development was delayed however there had been no specific diagnosis. Helena was subsequently diagnosed with Rett Syndrome. I won't attempt to explain that here but please do take the time to look it up. What I will say however is that Helena will not have the life that so many of us - myself included - take for granted.

Over the last few years, me and my family have become good friends with Helena's family, to the extent that we now consider them to be part of our extended family. The commitment, patience and humour with which they face the challenge of supporting Helena's additional needs has been truly inspirational.

While Helena and her family receive support from all the places you might expect, there is not enough to go around, to provide everything she needs. One thing Helena did receive recently was an Eye Gazer device, which has significantly improved her ability to communicate with her family. The device however will need new programmes to continue to assist Helena with this aspect of her development. It is likely that Helena's family will need to meet some or all of the cost of these programmes, which run into the hundreds of pounds.

I have therefore decided to complete the Thames Path Challenge - jogging/walking 50km from Putney to Staines - in order to try and raise some money to help out.