Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Here are a few more details about my fundraising cause:

The 4th of September 2010 left my family shaken in more ways than one. Amidst the chaos of the first of the two major Christchurch earthquakes, my father was told he had myeloma, a type of blood cancer.

The chemotherapy and radiotherapy used to combat blood cancers are effective but leave the patient's immune system very weak and fragile. Stem cell transplants (an infusion of healthy stem cells which is fed into the patient’s body) can then be used to boost the number of healthy cells to kick start their immune system. After an series of chemo treatments, my father received a stem cell transplant which led to what initially seemed like a miracle recovery. This transplant 'bought' Dad a year or so of partial remission and greatly improved quality of life before the cancer recently returned (as is common with myeloma), requiring further chemo to which he is responding well.

Anthony Nolan is a pioneering charity that saves the lives of people with blood cancer who need a blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant. In 1974, Anthony Nolan's mother, Shirley, set up the world's first bone marrow register to match donors with people who desperately needed a transplant.  Now, every day, they help people like my Dad by using their register to find donors who have matching stem cells or bone marrow, be it in the UK or internationally. They also carry out world class  research into the treatment of blood disorders and improving the effectiveness of stem cell transplants.

So I am running the Edinburgh Marathon (my first one!) on 26 May 2013 as part of the Anthony Nolan team, to raise money for this very personal and worthy cause, and I'm incredibly grateful for any donation you can make to support this cause too.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure and can be done from anywhere in the world. 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. THANKYOU!!