Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page!

As most of you know I am running the London Marathon at the end of April for the Starfish Greathearts Foundation. This is a wonderful charity working in South Africa providing lifesaving health, education and child protection to children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS and poverty. 

There remains 1.7 million children in South Africa who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and many find themselves in child-headed households. They become extremely vulnerable to abuse, malnutrition, and dropping out of education, often falling into crime and being exposed to HIV. Starfish works in partnership with grassroots community-based organisations in order to reach and provide support to the most vulnerable children. They invest in the future of over 15,000 children a year so they can grow into happy and independent young adults.

Below you will see how your donations help those in need - 

£20 can provide an emergency medical pack for a caregiver - these care visits ensure that children in child headed households have everything they need to feed their younger siblings, send older children to school and provide care.

£50 can send a child back to school by providing them with a uniform, school shoes, books, stationary and educational support.

£100 can provide equipment for a crèche for 50 children - Starfish funds crèches so that the older children of child headed families can go to school knowing their young siblings are safe and cared for.

£210 can provide the seeds and fertilized for a community vegetable garden start-up. Food gardens promote sustainable living, allowing to grow food for the children they care for whilst also giving the children a chance to learn practical skills.

£500 can fund a Wellness Day (including esteem building and counselling for a group of children living with HIV/AIDS.

£1000 can provide funds for an Early Childhood Development Practitioner for 6 months at a rural crèche.

Thank you all for joining me to help raise much needed pennies for this great cause. And with five weeks to go, any marathon tips would be very much appreciated too! 

Sophie xx