On 7th March 2010 I am running the Paris semi-marathon, along with over thirty friends and supporters, to raise money for the Naked Heart Foundation. Please sponsor my run to help raise money for Naked Heart!

I founded the Naked Heart Foundation five years ago to give underprivileged children in my home country Russia the gift of play. We have already built thirty-nine play facilities in thirty Russian cities and my aim is to continue building until we have built five hundred. The need for such facilities in Russia is enormous, where more than 25% of the population has salaries below the subsistence level, the authorities do not provide play facilities and families with children account for most of the poor. The Naked Heart Foundation believes that play is a necessity, not a luxury, and that every child should be given a secure environment in which to play. It is through play that children at a very early age engage with the world around them. It is through play that they develop their imaginations, their creativity, become stronger physically, more confident and resilient. Guarded 24 hours a day, our play parks and smaller playgrounds stand in stark contrast to the grey cityscapes they inhabit. They are played in tirelessly by the local children, who range from toddlers to eighteen-year olds and include the physically less able.