My wife's cousin Ruby, whose photo is attached, is 5 years old. She and her family live in London and Ruby has severe cerebral palsy as a result of complications at birth. She is unable to talk and her movement generally is very severely impaired. 

For all her disabilities, you can see she is a beautiful, as well as a happy little girl whose life, and that of her dedicated parents, is made easier by the support they receive from this, the only Government approved centre for children with CP in the London region.

Ruby of course is only one of a huge number of kids that benefit from the care and assistance that the Centre offers. 55 children a week go there for intensive therapy.  The Centre also provides equipment and runs holiday schemes and therapy, not just for kids suffering from CP, but also other movement disorders.  Equally importantly, it teaches parents how to care for these children - making theirs, as well as the child's, life more rewarding and fulfilling.

I am sure you will understand why I wish to support this centre which helps Ruby even though few of the kids and parents who benefit from it are likely to be from the North where I and many of my hoped for donors will come from.  The fact is that all kids and families afflicted by this condition, whatever point of the compass they come from, deserve the kind of help the Centre can offer. I know personally however the importance Ruby's Mum and Dad attach to the work of this particular centre, not just for Ruby, but for her friends who also use and benefit from its services. 

This is why I want to raise money for it by running the Edinburgh Marathon on 23 May.  Frankly the training for it has been a real chore.  If the truth be known I'm getting too old and decrepit to be running 26.2 miles.  But at least I can run. Ruby and so many children like her will never be blessed with the ability to walk much less run.  It's a small price for me to pay to run for 4 hours (or probably more!) if it means the quality of life of these kids can be improved to some extent. 

I hope you feel that a donation, however small, is also a small price for you to pay too.  The Centre needs grants and donations of £250000 per year just to keep going and as little as £150 can provide a special chair to train kids how to get from a sitting to a standing position and with £1000 the Centre can get a specialist computer with which the children can communicate. Doesn't actually seem like very much to change a life does it?

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