Many of you will know of my developing obsession with running over the last few years, and this year I will be tackling the biggie - the full marathon. Well, 2 of them, actually. I'm running Paris on 11th April and Edinburgh on 23rd May. 

I don't usually ask people for money but on this occasion I'm raising money for a very worthy cause: Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda. This is the hospital where I spent my elective in 2008. It provides services to a rural area about 60km north of the capital, Kampala, which was devastated during the civil war in the 1980s. Although the area is peaceful now, it remains poor and lacking in services. Kiwoko Hospital provides quality healthcare to the local people at a fraction of the actual cost of the service. Although patients make a contribution to the cost of their healthcare, Kiwoko Hospital keeps this as low as possible and as a result needs £12,000 a month to keep doing what it does so well.

Kiwoko Hospital has adult and children's medical and surgical wards, runs outpatient clinics, has a maternity unit and a TB ward, has its own laboratory and trains both nurses and laboratory technicians. It also runs a major community service providing free HIV testing and anti-retroviral and other treatment and support for all those diagnosed with this condition. I was massively impressed with the care they provide. The staff - mostly Ugandan, but some expatriate - are hugely committed and hard-working, and care for the whole of the person and not just their medical needs. The hospital is also renowned locally for managing its finances transparently without corruption.

So I'd be hugely grateful if you felt able to sponsor me. You can be safe in the knowledge that your money is going directly to a good cause, where a few pounds makes a significant difference. Thanks!

And their blurb...

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