Hello and a warm welcome to my fundraising page.

For those that just want the summary, here it is:

Running the Reading Half-Marathon 2008 - Raising Money for CLIC Sargent
Please give generously!

If you'd like to know a bit more about me and the charity I am fundraising for, then please read on:

My name is Matt Taylor and I work as an Assistant Manager at a small arthouse cinema in Oxford. After a period of living as a 'couch potato' I decided it was time to take up some exercise and I began jogging again earlier this year, dragging my sister along with me. After several months of training we decided it would be fun to try a out a running event as a goal to look forward to.

After some searching we discovered the Reading Half Marathon, which will be on the 2nd March 2008, and decided we would go for it. I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to get involved in some fundraising so that I wasn't the only one benefitting from this incredible (and I'm sure painful) experience. After a little bit of reading about the official charities for the event I chose CLIC Sargent as the charity I would fundraise for. Here is a little bit of info on what the charity does:

CLIC Sargent: Every 24 hours, 10 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer or leukaemia. From that moment on their lives will never be the same again. CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading children’s cancer charity is there for each family, caring every step of the way. We look after children and young people with cancer and leukaemia and their families through nurses, social workers, homes from home, research, financial support and advice, and holidays.

This will be our first event of this kind and also our first time fundraising. We promise to do our very best on the gruelling 13.1 mile course if you do your best to help us raise as much money as possible for CLIC Sargent.

Pay attention, here comes the science part:

"Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: CLIC Sargent will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you."

As I'm sure you will agree any money you are able to donate is going towards a great cause, so please do dig deep and sponsor me now!

Thank you kindly for reading and for all your support. I look forward to reporting back a massive success in March!