The 401 Foundation has been founded and created by Ben Smith. After completing The 401 Challenge; a multi award winning project that raised over £330,000 for two anti bullying charities between 2015 and 2017, Ben Smith felt that The 401 Challenge needed a legacy. The project had set out to inspire and challenge people to achieve things they never thought they could, it brought together people from all different kinds of backgrounds and raised awareness of bullying issues in the UK and its effects on people's lives.

After many days and months of developing ideas The 401 Foundation (Charity) and The 401 Foundation Ltd (Events Business) was born. It just made sense, why not take the values and experiences of The 401 Challenge and make something of them. So many people commented on how the challenge had changed their lives, changed their way of thinking, built their confidence and self esteem.

When running with Ben during the 401 challenge, I was reminded of the girl who was bullied at school, for being different from them, because her brother was very clever, and her other brother was also a little different. The girl who was not popular, and who had limited friends. The same girl who was told she would not achieve anything, was called fat, ugly and smelly, as the nicest of names!

That girl now has been a charge nurse in intensive care, and now teaches other nurses. She has taught 100's of children first aid and life skills in the voluntary sector. That "fat" girl has run 18 miles with Ben Smith, and is now planning to run 2 x 5km, 2 x 10km & 2 x 1/2 marathons between 27 August, and 9th September. the first set all in Portishead, at the Live event of the Festival of running, Ben Smiths inaugural event, in his home town.

No one should suffer through bulling, confidence and mental health issues alone, please support me in doing this.