Hey! Thanks for visiting my JustGiving page - happy to have you here. 

On Sunday 7th April 2024, I’ll be running the London Landmarks Half Marathon to raise money £1000 for the Rukhsana Khan Foundation, Waltham Forest’s first food bank. Formed in 2013, it’s grown to offer a food bank, breakfast club, supper club and home energy support scheme for local residents. 

Right now, RKF provides 450 food bags to 120 households per week from across the borough of Waltham Forest, and there’s no cap for the number of visits a client can make to the food bank - getting out the food poverty trap can take many months, sometimes years. 

Thanks to generous donations from supermarkets and locals, we’re able to create a balanced and varied selection of fresh produce and bread, canned foods, milk, cereal, pasta, rice, curry sauces and treats for those who need it. All in all, we support 300 people a week. 

If you’ve been at all tuned into the UK headlines, you won’t be surprised to learn that demand for the food bank has exploded since 2020, rising by 300%, with up to 12 new referrals each week. There’s a waiting list of 15-20 households each for delivery (some clients come to the centre, but many get food parcels delivered to their door by a volunteer fleet of drivers). At the same time, there’s been a 30% increase in costs per week incurred by RKF due to inflation. Getting the two tons of food we distribute each Saturday is no mean feat, and requires serious legwork from founder J, and over 30 regular volunteers.

I’ve been volunteering at RFK on Saturday mornings since 2022, and it’s a wonderfully warm and welcoming space for both food bank clients and volunteers. The work RKF does is truly invaluable. The money you donate will cover the purchase of food, venue hire, and transportation costs.

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A bit about me and this race…despite running for fun since I was 15, there’s been no rhyme or reason to my training, I go when I feel like it, and never measure anything, and the furthest I’ve ever run in a race is 10km. So a half-marathon will be a MAJOR challenge, and I’m a little apprehensive. But it’s a gorgeous course covering all of London’s biggest hitters, and April is my favourite month, so it’s auspicious for many reasons.

I would be thrilled if you could donate whatever you can to RKF as I pound the pavements in the weeks to come. THANKS SO MUCH!