So this year i've decided to run the Robin Hood Half Marathon in Nottingham and because of my involvement in Nottingham since graduating working with the multitude of fantastic organisations in the asylum and refugee support services here, I wanted to use my running (ha, walking) 13+ miles as a way to fundraise for one of my favourite groups working here in Nottingham - the small, but powerful group - Global Sistaz United.

Global Sistaz are a group of fantastic women from Africa - all of whom have sought sanctuary in the UK after fleeing conflict or persecution in their home country. The sisters have helped my own project - coming into local schools in Nottingham to share their experiences during our workshops discussing asylum with students, and they are honestly some of my favourite people in the City - doing phenomenal work and activism each and everyday on a purely voluntary basis and contributing to the very heart of this City because of it.

Essentially, I'm trying to fundraise £300 to support the group's new Doula project, which is a fantastic idea set up and already underway to help female asylum seekers become UK trained and qualified "Doulas" in the area. For those who don't know (as I didn't), a Doula is an individual that volunteers to help support mothers in the before, during and after stages of pregnancy in the local community.. They provide the emotional, physical and informational support to complement a midwives medical care for the mother and child.

Indeed, while some of the women involved in the new project are qualified doulas or midwives in their home country, the Sistaz's projects is important and exciting because it offers a real potential pathway into a career in midwifery in the UK - providing female asylum seekers with the formal training and UK qualification, as well as practical english language support to allow these women - otherwise unable to gain paid work under the asylum system process - the ability to access in the UK pregnancy support system as a qualified Doula in the community.

Likewise, even if these women do not enter into a career in midwifery, being trained and then volunteering as a Doula provides them a chance to gain valuable skills and the oppurtunity to volunteer in an incredibly meaningful role - meeting and support other women in their local community in one of the most intense times of their lives and becoming essential people in the running of our society, which personally I think is more of what we need to be doing in actually using these incredible skills and abilities of the people who come to our country for safety.

This project is close to my heart because these women at the Sistaz are some of the strongest and most amazing women i've ever met, and ultimately I truly believe they deserve the opportunity to build skills and a live here and to find meaningful work by getting trained and qualified as Doulas in Nottingham where these roles are needed.

£300 is an ambitious target, but it will cover the costs of the training facilitators (the Goodwin Trust based in Hull) who will be leading the Sistaz training sessions, as well as helping to cover the transport of the women to and from their training - as these women have no source of income other than the £5/day provided by the government expected to cover all costs (except housing) in their everyday living.

Anything can give is absolutely fantastic and I promise you, is supporting a TRULY FANTASTIC cause!

Pay to see me run 13 miles of pain or pay to support these women in begin new lives and new roles in Nottingham - whatever your reasoning, all donations are greatly recieved and supported!

Thank you everyone! I'm so excited to see if we can beat the £300 target!

Much love,

Shannon <3