Thank you for taking the time to read my JustGiving story.

As many of you know, the Samson Centre is a special charity to my family and I.  It is situated in Guildford, Surrey and is a resource and therapy centre which significantly improves the quality of life for people with MS.  It practices traditional and natural therapies and offers support to carers and families as well as sufferers.

The reason it means so much to me as my father was the driving force behind setting up the Samson Centre. 16 years ago, at the age of 38 my dad was diagnosed with MS - it is a progressive, debilitating disease of the nervous system which involves damage to the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.  It was a devastating blow to our whole family, especially to my dad who had previously been an active man with a huge love of playing rugby.  After the shock of his diagnosis my dad was upset and frustrated at the lack of support and care for newly diagnosed MS sufferers. He joined a local MS Therapy Group which did offer weekly physiotherapy sessions from a village hall, but it was not a practical environment.  From this experience he made a pledge to himself that he would raise enough money to build a centre for MS sufferers and their carers, which could offer a caring and supportive setting.  He wanted to offer treatments and therapies and to be a place of social and informative interaction with people from all different walks of life with one common illness.

The charity, Samson, was created, named after the biblical character who lost his strength but managed to hold up the crumbling building, saving those inside. With my dad's networking skills and so many fantastic friends and family members prepared to give up their time and energy to take part in fundraising events, the £500,00 was raised and the centre was built in 2005.  Today, the Samson Centre is thriving with approximately 150 members. It is a self-funded charity with operational costs of £200,000 per annum.  The Centre offers physiotherapy, exercise, baric oxygen therapy, neuro health classes and gym sessions.  It has a great team of specialist physiotherapists and instructors, along with an amazing group of volunteers that help keep the Centre running.

The Samson Centre helps so many people, offering support and care to those with MS so that they and their carers/families can have the best quality of life.  Therefore, fundraising is so important to keep this fantastic, worthy charity going.  I am so so proud of my dad for setting up the Samson Centre, I hope I make you proud xx

Please check out the Samson Centre website for more information and to see the upcoming fundraising events www.samsoncentre.org.uk

This will be my third time running the British 10k for the Samson Centre. I completed the run in 2012 and 2013 and am looking forward to this year's event in July!  Any donation would be greatly appreciated :)

Ellie xxx