Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  Full disclosure, as you may know… I am NOT a runner!! I am running my first ever marathon for MediCinema and my aim is to raise £2,500 for this wonderful charity. 

MediCinema is a charity which improves the wellbeing and quality of life of NHS patients and their families through the power of the shared cinema experience and the magic of film, allowing patients to escape into a different world and the chance to feel like they are living a normal life with their loved ones.

Being in hospital is hard, and while some patients only have to spend mere hours on a ward, many are admitted for weeks, months and even years at a time. As well as the pain, discomfort and other difficulties their condition brings, being in hospital restricts patients to the hospital grounds and cuts them off from life outside the hospital. With little to do, boredom becomes a real problem, and it is almost impossible for patients to have any sense of normality.  MediCinema gives patients and their families a break from the ward and all the difficulties of being in hospital through the transformative power of cinema.  These cinemas are by built, installed and run in places of care and are specifically designed to comfortably accommodate wheelchairs, hospital beds and medical equipment whilst maintaining a real and immersive cinema experience away from the wards for patients and their families.  Their services help to improve emotional, mental and physical health, reducing feelings of isolation, anxiety, and stress.

In a patient survey conducted across MediCinema’s in December, 93% believe MediCinema helps to improve wellbeing, providing the opportunity to be humanised again.  93% also believe MediCinema helps to reduce anxiety and stress and a psychological uplift.  100% would recommend MediCinema to others 

I have supported and donated to MediCinema for the past twelve years and would like to raise as much money as I can for them running the London Marathon.  Cinema, film and the media has always been an important part of my life, not only as a form of fun and escapism, but also as a career.  The magic of cinema inspires people to dream big, aim high, try new things, teach people and bring people together all around the world, across different cultures and languages.

I am running the London Marathon in memory of my Nan and Grandad, Mary and Roy Phillips.  I would have loved to have seen their reaction to me running the marathon and know that they will be guiding me, supporting me and cheering me on every step of the way.  It’s not only the 26.2 miles to get through on Race Day, but the focus and determination that is required in the months of training.

Here’s how your donations can help:

• £12.60 gives one patient a night at a MediCinema

• £25.20 gives one couple a date night a MediCinema

• £50.40 gives one family of four a screening together 

• £75 gives a nurse shift at a screening

• £100.80 gives two families of four a screening together

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for any amount you can donate, as little or as much as you can, to support this charity.  It’s your kindness and support that will give me the boost I need in the coming months to cross the finish line and to motivate me on the long and lonely runs!  I don't think I realised just how tough training to run a marathon would be. I really appreciate all of your support and I hope to see as many of your faces as possible on London Marathon Day - Sunday 2 October 2022.

For more information on this wonderful cause please take a look at: MedCinema.org.uk or via their Facebook page @MediCinema.org

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.