Myself, Oliver and James would love to help others. The boys decided very early on this year that they would like to raise money for the Solan Connor Fawcett Family Trust.

Mark visited their school and they instantly wanted to organise a fun run! They came home and started making posters for all the lamp posts. They plotted and planned and decided they wanted to help as many people as they could. We chatted about my past fundraising, which has included raising funds for The Stroke Association, The Great North Air Ambulance, Help for Heroes, Epilespsy Action and Headway for those with brain injuries.

There are so many deserving causes out there who deserve support. The Solan Trust helped our family at a very difficult time when the boys sadly lost their gran, the beautiful Jenny Clayton. We would love to pay forward the support our family received to other families too. The boys also particularly wanted to help children in our region and also chose to support St Oswalds Hospice.

I have ran the Great North Run for the last 6 years and had a spot for the race this year. So I put myself to the task to secure the boys a spot in the Junior Great North Run, no easy feat. I secured places. The Junior run is a big step up for Oliver and James. They have ran the mini event twice being only 1.5k, the Junior event is a much further 4k and they will be flying solo...... no adult running alongside.

Those of you who know me will know the last 18 months have not been easy for our family and we have come so far. Running was a love of mine but I simply have not been able to keep it up. After helping Sienna with her walking challenge earlier this year I was inspired to start moving again. I decided me and the boys can do this together along with the support of our family and friends.

As a family we would love to train together to achieve completing the 13.1 miles for me and 4k for the boys. Most of all we would like to pay forward to others who are experiencing tough times.