Hello ....

I'm running the Royal Parks Half Marathon on 8th October for a local breast cancer charity with close links to my local hospitals in Harlow & Epping.

Full details of the Maria Falco Memorial Trust and their amazing work are listed below.

Times are difficult and money is tight so I'm not asking you to donate big amounts. But.... if you think my effort to run 13.1 miles around London's Royal Parks is worthy of a pint, or a burger or even a poncey London cuppa (and you'd like to buy me one) then maybe you could instead donate £5. If 60 people donate £5 my target will be met. Of course if you think my efforts are worthy of more than the cost of a pint, a burger or a cuppa then please feel free to give a little more.

Maria Falco was an incredible lady who worked tirelessly to raise funds and improve treatment for women with breast cancer. She started raising money when she was diagnosed with the disease. The charitable trust that carries her name has continued her work since she eventually lost her fight in 2005.

Maria firmly believed that every woman should have access to the latest treatments to help them beat the second most deadly cancer in the UK.

She was treated in the breast cancer units at St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping and the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.

Thanks to Maria’s efforts, both these hospitals are involved in major, ground-breaking clinical trials. These trials are searching for those wonder drugs and treatments that will mean no-one needs to die from breast cancer.

More than 160 women have already benefited from these trials in the last four years. This work is helping to improve breast cancer treatment and care for the 50,000 people who will be diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

The Trust also helped to buy a £400,000 “cyberknife” machine for the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The machine targets certain types of breast cancer with fantastic results.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.