The number of people sleeping rough in London had more than doubled in the decade leading up to 2020. Back before Covid,144 homeless people died on London's streets in 2019 and the average age at death was tragically just 44 years. People experiencing homelessness are some of the most vulnerable and socially excluded in London society. Their lives are often damaged and chaotic, and life for them is very painful.

On 26th September I'm going to be running the Richmond Park Marathon in support of my work with homeless people in South London.

At London City Mission I oversee three protects in Lambeth, Webber Street Day Centre, Hope Community Homes and The Corner House.

London City Mission have been serving homeless people at Webber Street since 1962, these days in our Waterloo Day Centre we see 60-80 homeless guests each day where we serve hot food, showers, clothing, access to healthcare, have a team of staff who support our guests practically and above all treat everyone who comes through our doors with care, dignity and respect. As I write this August hasn't quite finished but we've already served breakfast to 935 guest this month.

Hope Community Homes is a supported housing project where we have five flats in which we can house men who had been on the street for up to two years. During that time one of our Support Workers will be providing in depth support to help them turn their life around.

The Corner House is a short term accommodation protect where we can house men who had been sleeping rough in the local area for up to six months even if they are not eligible for benefits. Our team then work with them through their stay to ensure they can move away from life on the street, gain access to employment and long term housing.

Running a marathon is going to be a pretty big challenge, I'm not completely new to distance running but I've never attempted a full marathon before and this will be the first race I've run for 8 years and I was in my 20's back then, it doesn't feel so easy now. With one month to go until race day I've spent just over 13 hours running about 94 miles so far but still have quite a way to go to prepare!

Thank you so much for your support in this work!