My name's Kieran, I'm a junior doctor at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, and I will be running a marathon on Wednesday 3rd June to raise money for COVID Crisis Rescue UK to supply PPE directly to frontline healthcare staff.

Unfortunately, due to years of neglect, we have been caught short in our supplies of PPE by the coronavirus pandemic. Even senior consultants have been driven to using makeshift PPE for protection, or worse, have had nothing at all.

We have already lost several healthcare professionals across the country, including Mary Boateng, a young nurse at Luton & Dunstable Hospital where I work, who has left behind a husband and newborn child.

But PPE doesn't only protect us, it protects you too. Preventing transmission from patients to members of staff, and subsequently to further patients, is crucial in making hospitals as safe as possible for all.

Because of this, I will be running the (coincidentally, exactly) 26.3 miles home after my shift at the hospital on Wednesday 3rd June , in light of current rules on non-essential travel, to raise money for COVID Crisis Rescue UK.

This is a small group, joint organised by a doctor, undertaking an inspiring operation to get PPE to where it's needed, bypassing the bureaucracy and red tape that has been hampering efforts across the country. This is not just to hospitals, but to overlooked healthcare centres, including domestic abuse shelters, care homes, hospices and ambulance services. Their work is especially important as larger charities, such as NHS Charities Together, are not currently targeting the demand for PPE.

Any amount you can donate would be incredibly appreciated, and will go to a very worthy cause.

P.S.: Any tips you have on training for a marathon would be very much appreciated, as I have rather foolishly decided to do this with only 3 weeks notice, and I've never run more than a 10km competitively before..