In the wake of the earthquakes in HAITI and CHILE we have decided to channel our efforts in running the London Marathon this year to support SHELTERBOX through Rotary International.  We know that everyone gets a little tired of seeing the endless request for donations, but this cause really makes a difference to the many thousands of people around the world devastated by natural disasters, and never more so than at present in the wake of the earthquakes in HAITI and CHILE .

SHELTERBOX was the brainchild of Tom Henderson, a Rotarian who saw that the aid response to most disasters was in the form of food and medicine to help people survive the immediate aftermath. Little or no assistance was given in terms of proper shelter to help them through the first few days, weeks and months as they tried to rebuild their lives. In 1999 he started researching the idea, and in 2000 ShelterBox was launched to fill that void. A ShelterBox response team (SRT) of volunteers arrived in Haiti just three days after the earthquake and the first ShelterBoxes arrived in the capital Port‐au‐Prince on 19 January, exactly a week after the earthquake hit. Twelve of these boxes were deployed as a makeshift field hospital at the airport.

There's no question of us not reaching the finishing line in London, it's going to be more a question of what state we will be in at the finish, no doubt quickly followed by a few well earned Leffe's to help us rehydrate....  . At least we'll get a lift home! All those winter training runs in the cold, the snow and the ice with our Deal Tri colleagues will have prepared us mentally and physically for this challenge but it will be a great added incentive for us to know that our efforts are going to help the people of Haiti start to rebuild their lives.

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 - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please, help us by digging deep and donating now.