Hello!

 

Welcome to my little fundraising page. Those of you who've known me for a while will know that I like to go for a little run now and again. It keeps me fit and sane. Let's be clear on this, I do this for fun.

 

A little while ago I ran my first half marathon. I got through it, quite enjoyed it even! So I thought, "what can I do that would be a bit more of a challenge?"; something that might be worth people donating to my favourite charity for doing. Then it hit me: Two half marathons in two consecutive weekends. To reiterate, I do this for fun - but I've got to say that having trained through the winter (that's right, it was snowing and I was out there running!) I hadn't quite realised what I was letting myself in for. Learning how to get up before seven and run ten miles, how to swallow my pride and wear some none-too-fetching running tights and running in sub zero temperatures being amongst my least favourite lessons. However, several months of running hard and I'm up for it - I think! So, tomorrow (13 March) I run my first trail (off road) half marathon in the New Forest (http://www.johnaustinhalf.co.uk/), followed next weekend by joining the hordes at the Madjeski Stadium in Reading for the Reading Half (http://www.readinghalfmarathon.com/).

 

The charity that I'm running for is Amnesty International UK (http://amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10010). Amnesty are a charity that work on many fronts to establish and preserve basic human rights. Now recently western governments and the media have staged a devisive campaign to brainwash the public into believing that "human rights" is a dirty phrase, and that crimes against human rights are morally excusable in certain circumstances. I utterly disagree. Justice relies on humans being treated with fairness and dignity, regardless of circumstance and urgency. I support amnesty in their calls for rights for women in the middle east, rights for political prisoners, rights of the individual against oppressive and unfair government, and education of all in treating other human beings with the basic dignity that they would expect themselves.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope that you will enjoy reading about my two runs in my blog: http://contemplatefate.wordpress.com/ (new posts up shortly), and will help me to support this very important cause.

Simon Till (12 March 2011)

 

JustGiving's blurb is below

"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."