Hi

Thanks for making it this far and visiting my page. I am running in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon on April 17th. I will be running for Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF).

MRF funds research into all the strains of this killer disease, runs a 24/7 freefone helpline for people to call when they are worried about symptoms etc, and raises awareness of meningitis and septicaemia.

I am running for MRF because in 1996 I very nearly lost my best friend Josh to Meningitis. He was quite literally minutes from death. At that time we were at separate universities, so I raced across the country to get to his hospital bed, fearing I would be too late. Luckily he pulled through after a long stay in hospital, with no lasting effects. However, it demonstrated to me how quickly this disease can act, and that it can affect anyone regardless of age and health. Last year, I was honoured to be his best man at his wedding, and I count myself lucky he is still with us. It could have been very different. Next year Josh will be lining up at Greenwich Park and running with me in the world famous London Marathon.

THE 100,000 FACES PORTRAIT MOSAIC PROJECT

The Plan - Raise £100,000!

To achieve this enormous amount, we are putting together one of the country’s biggest photo mosaics of people’s faces. The finished image will be a colossal 4m x 5.5m (imagine something 2 household doors high, by 6 wide!!) and have just over 50,000 images within it, with those tiny images part of a single marathon related design. Close up, the image will be a mass of tiny faces, but viewed from a distance it will merge to become the larger, single image.

How to Take Part - Be Part of the Art!!

To take part in this, and for your portrait to become part of this ground breaking artwork, we are simply asking for a small donation.

When you donate via this page, you will receive a thank you message from us, containing another e-mail address to which you can send your pictures to. These will then be added to the growing design, to create what will be a truly unique piece of installation artwork.

If you are on Facebook, please join my page HERE and help spread the word of this project! FB now reaches half a BILLION people, so please encourage your friends and family to join the group too!

MRF are a truly amazing charity, and I am proud to be supporting them again. Meningitis will affect over 3600 people this year, and over 350 of those will not win the battle. Of those that do survive, many are left with life changing disabilities, ranging from constant headaches, to multiple lost limbs. Meningitis kills in hours, so quick action is required!!

£100,000 would pay for:

400 days (24x7) of the helpline service

4,000 hours of a research program

10,000 hours of in-depth support for victims of meningitis

20,000 info packs for GP surgeries or schools

Take a look at MRF's Book of Experience here:

http://www.meningitis.org/book-of-experience

It contains peoples first hand experiences of meningitis - some with happy endings, but others not. It’s heart breaking stuff, and highlights why I am running for them again in 2011.

I know that donating online is more than just 'one click' and that you will have to dig out your debit / credit card. But it only takes about 5 minutes, so please please take 5 minutes to help us, and to become part of this unique project. 5 minutes is not too much to ask is it . . . . !! 

To follow my progress, please take a look at my Blog - HERE - for regular updates on my fundraising and training!

Thank you all a hundred thousand times!!!

 

 

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.

So please dig deep and donate now.