I am running the Minsk Half Marathon on Sunday September
2019 to raise fund for the Chernobyl Children’s Project (UK). As many of you
know, this is a cause close to my heart having volunteered in Belarus with
children and young people affected by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. For many
of us the superb recent miniseries Chernobyl brought back memories of those
awful events, for others it may well have been the first time they had heard
much about them. But for many people, particularly those living in the worst
affected parts of northern Ukraine and southern Belarus, they are still dealing
with the aftereffects of the disaster every day of their lives.

Chernobyl Children’s Project (UK) works all year round to
raise funds to provide recuperative holidays and other activities for children
and young people affected by the disaster in Belarus. They are not only striving hard to make the lives of those kids and young
adults living in institutions happier and more fulfilled but, through an
intense programme of education and training, they are fighting hard to
encourage the authorities to provide better care in the community so that as
many people as possible can live as independently as possible in family type
environments. But all this costs money and they desperately need our help.

For more information about the work the charity does please
go to https://www.chernobyl-children.org.uk/

This will be my first race of any distance for a few years,
it has been tough for a while. So, choosing to do this race, is also a step
forwards in my personal recovery and journey. It has given me a target to work
towards and to train for, given me a chance to visit one of my favourite
countries and cities in the world as well as giving me the satisfaction of
knowing that any money raised goes directly to providing holidays or other
leisure activities for these amazing people! I should stress that I am paying
for my own air fare and accommodation for the trip, so every penny of your
generous donations will go directly towards helping the children. Thank you in
advance!!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.