Our beautiful little two year old boy Elliot, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on 7th November, 2017 following a persistent nose bleed he had developed just the day before. Treatment began straight away, before we even had chance to contact everyone we wanted to. I was fortunate enough to be able to leave my teaching position and Ian was given some leniency at work to be able to still make the school run for our five year old daughter Abigail, in those first few weeks.

What we didn't take into consideration at that time was additional child care costs, after school and wrap around care for Abigail, parking costs, general costs of living in the hospital for weeks on end and even silly things like keeping Elliot entertained for hours on end while he was confined to a bed. That's when a number of charities started offering us unprecedented support. We were offered a grant to help cover transportation and parking costs. Elliot was given some truly amazing toys to play with and to take home. Elliot was also given gift vouchers, specially knitted blankets and beads to help track his treatment journey. Abigail was also offered a small grant, to help us with wrap around care costs.

All this support, and so much more, came from some charities we hadn't even heard of before. Smaller, independent charities that aren't even registered with 'Just Giving'!! So my goal is not only to pay back what all these amazing charities offered us, when we really needed it, but to also give back the same to enable another family to have the support we so gratefully received.

I have committed to running two 5 km runs, one 10 km run and a half marathon by October this year, in order to reach our funding goal. So if you want to donate a 'pound for every kilometer I'll be pounding', or perhaps an hour's wage; the cost of a pint you might want to sacrifice or even just any small change you can find down the side of your sofa, we would be very grateful.