Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My first London Marathon journey is nearly here!  I initially got my place in 2019 but I had to defer my London Marathon place for 2020.   To help with my training I took part in the Great North Run and Athens authentic marathon - Marathon to Athens!  But then everything changed, COVID-19 placed everyone in lockdown and the organisers of the London Marathon had to reschedule the event from the usual April for later in the year with the hope that it could go ahead.  Unfortunately, we were still in a pandemic and they decided to hold it virtually.  The weekend of the event was horrendous.  It rained non-stopped but I did it.  During the pandemic, I have kept up my fitness by taking part in quite a few virtual 10kms runs and even completed my first ever ultra-marathon (over a weekend) which was a great experience.

I am running for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a charity that is very close to my heart and has been for the past 26 years since I was lucky enough to have my first hearing dog, Bruno.

Each hearing dog brings so much more to their recipient than alerting them to sounds. My four dogs have each brought me confidence, independence and the ability to lead a “normal” life, and each with their own individual personality.

Being deaf or hard of hearing is an invisible disability and running the London Marathon will allow me to raise some money for the charity to help with training these wonderful and much needed dogs. I want to raise awareness that being deaf can be a life limiting condition but hearing dogs can and do help deaf people overcome some of the challenges that deafness brings.

Thank you for reading my story and any amount of money that you are able to donate to the charity will go towards training and providing people like me with a life changing hearing dog. 

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.