I recently travelled to South Africa and part of my work took place in a local nursery. I worked every day with young children who ranged from 9 months old to 4 years old. I fell in love with these children. I could have never imagined they would have had such a huge impact on my life, and that is why I am sharing with you now.

I could not simply go home and say goodbye to them. I do not want to fill the traveller’s stereotype of taking a few selfies with the children and then moving on. I want to do something really meaningful for those children, and their teachers.

To give you some context, these kids really do have very little. We have all seen footage from Comic Relief or Children in Need and presumed that this is exaggerated, extreme cases. I can assure you that such hurt truly does exist in this world. It is a hurt which nothing could have prepared me for.

I shed many tears in South Africa as I heard tales of the children losing their parents; through drugs, crime and violence. I shed tears as I saw the conditions of their “playground”, as it was a playground littered with broken glass and drugs paraphernalia. I shed tears as I said goodbye to those children, as there was so much more I wanted to do for them.

The children have very little, but what surprised me the most is how much they have of some things. They have in abundance; love, gratitude, hope and humility. I have never seen such wide smiles and such gratefulness for the simplest of gifts.

In our part of the world, we can never truly be grateful. We take for granted what it means to have a family, to have toys, to have a meaningful education and to have opportunities and aspirations.

I will be participating in three events, or challenges, over the course of this summer. My motivation is simple, I would like to raise a substantial amount of funds which will be used directly to make an impact on the lives of the children and teachers I was fortunate enough to meet. The funds will also be used to help hundreds of other children, through the charity “United Through Sport”, who gave me this opportunity in the first place.

There is currently a lot of distrust surrounding charities in the UK. We have seen great controversy surrounding charities such as Oxfam recently, and much of the British public are unsure as to exactly where their donations go. By donating on my giving page, I can assure you of one thing. There will be complete transparency in where all of the money goes. Most importantly, the money will be used to create something for these children and their teachers. Whether that be food, toys, a sandpit, or a trip. Whatever it is, it will be donated directly to those who need it the most.

Below are some more details on my challenges:

EVENT 1 – 8TH JULY 2018 – LONDON COLOUR RUN

I will be running 5k through the streets of London, whilst getting absolutely covered in paint and foam. This event will be a lot of fun and it is mainly aimed at getting my efforts more attention, and also getting myself ready for my much more strenuous challenges subsequent to this one. (I will of course be sharing lots of colourful photos from this event!)

EVENT 2 – 4TH AUGUST 2018 – AJ BELL LONDON TRIATHLON

Perhaps my most challenging event. I will be participating at the AJ Bell London Triathlon in the heat of August. I will be swimming in the Royal Victoria Dock, biking across the beautiful Docklands Route before running the streets of London, and finishing at the Excel centre. This event will take me lots of training (mostly open water swimming!), but I am sure the pain will be worth it in the end.

EVENT 3 – 25TH AUGUST 2018 – LEE VALLEY VELOPARK HALF MARATHON

I do not stop after my Triathlon, as 3 weeks later I will once again be taking to the streets of London, but this time for a sweaty 13.1 miles. I will once again be training extremely hard to set a respectable time, and this event will conclude my trio of events, and my summer of intense training!

I would be so grateful if you could please give a donation. Even the smallest amount will go a tremendously long way in making a change to some of the hurt in this world. Even a share of my post will mean the world to me! If we work together, we can fight hurt with love, and we can turn despair into hope.

50% of the funds raised will be going directly to the school, with the other 50% going to the Charity "United Through Sport", with more infomation available here (https://www.unitedthroughsport.org).

❤️

Morgs