Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am lucky to be the mother of a healthy, happy three-year-old.  Not all parents are so lucky. On 25 April 2010 I am running the Virgin London Marathon to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital - partly because of the exceptional care that Jeannie, my brother and sister-in-law's baby niece received but also because, as a parent, you take for granted your child’s health but you never know if or when you might be in a position to need the help of a specialist children’s hospital like GOSH.

Jeannie caught whooping cough aged just 6 weeks. When her condition deteriorated she was transferred to the intensive care unit at Great Ormond Street, where she was fortunate enough to be placed on a paediatric ECMO machine. There are only 4 such specialist ECMO units in the country. ECMO (extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) is used when a patient has a serious condition which prevents the lungs or heart from working normally - very similar to heart and lung machines used during open-heart surgery. Not only does each machine cost £50,000 to buy but two highly-skilled, trained staff are needed to run it 24 hours a day.

Despite the outstanding dedication and care of the GOSH staff, Jeannie was sadly too ill and weak to survive the treatment and passed away peacefully with her parents by her side. We have all been devastated by this sad loss - especially Jeannie's parents and older sister, Holly. I hope to raise as much as I can for GOSH to help fund more specialist equipment and staff to save the lives of other children like Jeannie.

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.

So please dig deep and donate now.  Your donations really can make a difference.