I last ran a half marathon in 2004 and crossed the finishing line in tears, vowing never to run one again.  

But what better cause to change my mind than First Days Children's Charity, who I have worked for since September last year.  First Days supports families living in extreme financial hardship in Berkshire and surrounding areas by providing essential items for their children.  

Most of these items are great quality, second hand items which have been donated by local families but we also have to purchase some items for health & safety reasons.  We also have the costs of our warehouse and mobile support van without which we could not operate.

Demand for our services has never been higher; We have already helped over 4,000 children this year.  Surely every child deserves to have a bed to sleep in at night, to have a school uniform that fits them, to lose themselves in a book and have toys to play with. 

This is just one of the many pieces of feedback that we receive from Professionals working with the families who we support:

 "I am a midwife working in East Berkshire and we absolutely RELY on First Days for desperate families. They step in at short notice and supply everything that is required, I don't know how they do it. We would be lost without First Days but more importantly so would our desperate families”

Thank you so much for your donation x

ps 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.