I am running the Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 29 May to raise money for four charities that are important to me. As Justgiving only allow you to fundraise for one charity through their normal pages, I have had to set this up as a personal fundraiser. This means I will get the donation money sent to me after the marathon and will then split the money equally and donate to each charity- I'll be posting a screenshot of my donations for transparency. My charities are:

Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home - who rescue, reunite and rehome stray and abandoned pets. They also support pet owners experiencing pet poverty via their community outreach programme and pet food bank, and advocate for responsible pet ownership through their education programme and public affairs work. I have worked at the Home coming up for 6 years and am always blown away by the impact our work has on the people and pets we support.

SiMBA - a charity that exists to support people and families who have experienced baby loss. SiMBA provides memory boxes to people who have lost their baby at any stage of pregnancy or shortly after birth. They also provide peer support groups, family rooms within hospitals, trees of tranquility and special events to help those on their baby loss journey. I joined the board of Trustees in February 2020 and the team do such an wonderful job supporting people who need them.

Crew 2000 - a charity that works to reduce drug and sexual health related harms and stigma, improving mental and physical health without judgement. An amazing charity that has supported a family member of mine who is battling drug addiction. Their support through their counselling service has significantly helped them on their recovery journey.

Coppafeel - a charity that exists to educate and remind every young person in the UK that checking their boobs isn’t only fun, it could save their life. A cause deeply personal to me as my mum died of breast cancer at the age of 39, after being diagnosed in her mid thirties. This charity does important work to raise awareness of breast cancer to young people.

Having only started running in October 2020 via couch to 5k and never having taken part in a race or ran with another person, this will be a huge challenge for me! So far, the furthest I have ran is a half marathon. Following a 21 week training plan, I hope to get over the finish line and raise some much needed funds for these four amazing causes.