Thanks for visting my JustGiving page. I’m very excited to be taking part in this year’s London marathon in support of the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA).

As many of you may know, until his recent retirement my Dad was a Consultant in Spinal Injuries at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in Sheffield and was a member of the Governing Council of the SIA for a number of years. It is through him that I have learnt of the wonderful work done by the SIA to help and support people affected by spinal cord injuries.

The SIA is the leading national charity for spinal cord injured people. Every year in the UK over 1000 people experience a spinal cord injury and there are an estimated 40,000 spinal cord injured people in the UK alone.

Most spinal cord injuries result in paralysis and the impact of injury can be devastating. Spinal cord injured people and their families are faced with the challenge of coming to terms with their injury, and rebuilding their lives with a disability. But with the right support and information, people can still enjoy and full and independent life after injury. 

The SIA supports spinal cord injured people and their families from the moment their injury occurs and for the rest of their lives. They work to increase awareness, campaign for improved medical and social care, and provide invaluable services for spinal cord injured people including:

·     Peer Advice by people who share lived experiences for the benefit of newly injured people;

·     Employment Clinics where people can discuss future education, employment or volunteering opportunities with dedicated employment specialists;

·     Your Voice Training where people can get help and advice to enable them to access support from local service providers;

·     Advocacy Service to assist people to represent themselves when dealing with complaints about poor treatment or inaccessible services. 

This is the first time I will have attempted a marathon. I ran the Oxford Half Marathon in October last year but I reckon that’s about the furthest I’ve run in my life. Now facing an early-mid life crisis with my 30th birthday a week after the big event, I panicked slightly and signed up for the full 26 miles in an attempt to enter my fourth decade in reasonable shape.

So if you can spare a few pounds, any and all donations will be greatly appreciated and will no doubt give me the extra encouragement likely necessary to get round on the day!

Thanks again for visting my page. Here's the blub from JustGiving...

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