As you may have gathered I am running the New York Marathon on 1 November 2009.
I am running for Help the Hospices, an amazing charity that provides support to 240 hospices throughout the UK. On average hospices receive just 31 per cent of their funding from the Government. Therefore, they are left to make up the remainder of their operating costs through charitable donations. In order to keep going the hospice movement needs £400 million each year. This is why your donation is vitally needed to help the hospice movement continue to provide care to over 250,000 terminally ill people every year.
I am into the full swing of my training now and I aim to run the marathon in under 4 hours. This is a massive target for a recovering fatty and for someone who has never run a marathon before but the more donations I receive, the more I am determined to run faster...so please be generous!
There will be plenty of people who think I can't run that time and that's brilliant because I challenge you to put your money where your mouth is. There are lots of innovative ways in which you can sponsor me - you could donate a basic amount and then set me a challenge to beat a certain time, and if I do you could top up your original donation. Nothing will make me more determined to take your money from you!
You can do this by donating a basic amount (i.e. £1 per mile = £26.20) and in your message set me your challenge (i.e. an extra £100 if I run it in under four hours) I will trust you to pay up if I beat your challenge.
Thanks for donating and if you can come out and support me please do!
Mike
The small print:
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.Please note that I am raising funds for Help the Hospices by asking for your sponsorship. Help the Hospices has paid £200 as a contribution to my entrance fee. If I do not raise more than £1,000, I must repay this to Help the Hospices. In addition, Help the Hospices will reimburse my costs and expenses as follows:
• If I raise between £1,400 and £2,199.99, HtH reimbursement = £200
• If I raise between £2,200 and £2,999.99, HtH reimbursement = £450
• If I raise over £3,000, HtH reimbursement = £700”
