Dear all,
DONE IT! What an experience it was!
NYorkers came out on the day to cheer the runners, the weather could not have been more beautiful and favourable. I even got a bit of sun tan! After I paraded around with my medal and felt like an hero. More pictures to follow as soon as I get them from the marathon organisers.
Many many thanks for your generous and kind support. I wouldn't have done it without you all behind me, in particular a big thanks to Virgin Atlantic who got me to NY after missing my BA flight.
I have just celebrated my first half-century and decided to extend the celebrations by running the New York Marathon on the 6 of November 2011. What a way to remember my 50th! So when you are just about to finish your Sunday roast, I will be starting the 26.2 miles in Staten island and hope to reach Central Park a few hours later.
To provide an incentive for my journey and lighten my effort, I hope you will be kind enough to sponsor me and donate a few of your spare pennies to help The Haven.
At the age of 13 I lost my mother to breast cancer; sadly a few years earlier my mother lost her sister, who left 3 young children, the eldest also was 13 at the time. The story unfortunately goes on: my cousin, having lost her mother at the same age as me, would also die in 1989. Cancer has been part of my life and you might have also been affected by it directly or indirectly, thus you will perhaps understand why I am asking for your sponsorship and help this small charity.
The Haven offers a free progamme of care supporting cancer patients and their families. Staffed by specialist teams, The Haven in London, Hereford and Leeds are welcome day centres providing counselling, information and complementary therapies before, during and after medical treatment. Being a small charity, The Haven has no Government funding and is totally dependent on charitable donation and fundraising events such as the New York Marathon, to meet its running costs, which amount to around £2 million a year.
At a glance, this is what your sponsorship can provide:
£60 – An initial and follow up consultation with a Haven Nutritionist
£ 120 – 3 hour’s counselling with a specialist Haven Counsellor
£ 500 – 1 year supply of acupuncture needles
£ 1,000 – Approximate cost of providing The Haven programme of care for one visitor
£ 3,000 – The cost of running a weekly support group with a Haven Counsellor for one year
£ 20,000 – The cost of Nutrition consultations for one year
£ 30,000 – The cost of specialist Counselling services for one year
I hope you will agree that the services provided by The Haven are vital and can help to relieve the suffering associated with breast cancer. I am aware that you are constantly sent letters like this, but with 1 in 8 women and 300 men likely to develop breast cancer every year, it could affect any one of us, and we may be only too grateful for the support of The Haven.
Thanking you in anticipation of your support.
José Marcelino
