I may regret this but I have decided to take up the challenge of the Reading half marathon on March 19th! So just under four weeks away.

With this in mind, I thought this would be a brilliant opportunity to raise someone money for a charity that has helped me, my son (Max) and his mum during our toughest period, Max's first month after being born. Due to a condition called Gastroschisis, Max was born with his intestines and half of his stomach outside his abdomen which resulted in an expectation of being in hospital for 4 - 6 months. We were lucky enough to be in the safe hands of St. George's Hospital in Tooting and miraculously able to leave after 1 month.

One of a million concerns was where we would stay during Max's time in hospital because we lived a 90 minute drive away, so commuting would be very challenging, even more so after his mum had an emergency caesarian and paying for a hotel would of been extortionate. However, this was taken care of by the Ronald MacDonald House Charity.

To put things into perspective, it costs the charity £25 per night to house one family. There are 8 rooms in the house and we were there for 21 days, so for our one room over 21 days it equates to £525 that was covered for us by the charity. They provided a private room with an ensuite and food throughout the day, everyday of the week.

So as a massive thank you to the charity that helped us out whilst Max and his mum were recovering to be able to come home, I want to raise £525 as a minimum to pay back what it cost them to house us for 21 days.

I would really appreciate any contribution, however great or small, because just think.....as you are able to go home to your bed tonight, there are families staying in the Ronald MacDonald House tonight that can't be at home with their families because one of their children is in intensive care or high dependency wards.

Thank you so much in advance for any contribution.

Brad