Hello there!

My name is Maxie, thank you for taking the time to visit my Justgiving page. As some as you will already be aware, I am no stranger to running the London Marathon, having run in 2014 and 2015 for the mental health charity Mind. 

I am back again to take on the epic 26.2 mile race for a different cause but one that is also incredibly close to my heart. My younger brother Jack is 23 and severely autistic. The National Autistic Society was a brilliant resource to my family when we were younger, and I want to help raise money for the NAS so they can help more Autistic people at a time when funding and benefits for disabled people are being cut, and there is still little awareness about this condition which effects 1 in 100 people in the UK.

I will be running the full 26.2 miles of the London Marathon route dressed as a Moose! It will be very hot and sweaty in my Moose costume,  even though I am not stranger to the London Marathon I will be doing this for Jack and people like him, so your donations no matter how much will help spur me on!

Thank you for visiting my Justgiving page! All donations are welcome, however small it all adds up and is gratefully received, if you can't donate I would just appreciate a share on Facebook or a nice message of good luck goes a long way!

Thank you,

Love

Maxine

About Autism

Around 700,000 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum. Together with their families they make up around 2.8 million people whose lives are touched by autism every single day. 

• Autism is a serious, lifelong and disabling condition. Without the right support, it can have a profound - sometimes devastating - effect on individuals and families.
• Autism is much more common than many people think. There are around 700,000 people in the UK living with autism - that's more than 1 in 100¹. If you include their families, autism touches the lives of 2.8 million people every day.
• Autism doesn't just affect children. Autistic children grow up to be autistic adults.
• Autism is a hidden disability - you can't always tell if someone has it.
• While autism is incurable, the right support at the right time can make an enormous difference to people's lives.
• 34% of children on the autism spectrum say that the worst thing about being at school is being picked on².
• 63% of children on the autism spectrum are not in the kind of school their parents believe would best support them³.
• 17% of autistic children have been suspended from school; 48% of these had been suspended three or more times; 4% had been expelled from one or more schools⁴. 
• Seventy per cent of autistic adults say that they are not getting the help they need from social services. Seventy per cent of autistic adults also told us that with more support they would feel less isolated⁵.
• At least one in three autistic adults are experiencing severe mental health difficulties due to a lack of support⁶.
• Only 16% of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time paid employment, and only 32% are in some kind of paid work⁷. 
• Only 10% of autistic adults receive employment support but 53% say they want it⁸
  

Please dónate!!