Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

<big>We’re doing a number of runs this year after starting running for the first time ever in 2021. Having completed Tewkesbury Half and Gloucester 10k, I'm going to run <a href="https://www.runcheltenham.com" target="new3">Cheltenham 10K</a> with my amazing daughter (her first race), whilst my son Jake and step sons Andy & Mike will all run the Cheltenham Half.</big>

I suffered with Polycystic Kidney Disease and had both my kidney' removed, in 2014/15 I lived a year without any kidneys, which was hard and involved dialysis 5 times a week and even that wasn't really enough. I finally got 'the call' and offer of a kidney transplant on 14th September 2015, and have been living happily every after. <br/><b>You can read more of my story on my blog >></b> <a href=https://kidneytransplantblog.blogspot.com target="new4">https://kidneytransplantblog.blogspot.com</a>  

<img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sre_zHwAqfo/UtRmJhMz51I/AAAAAAAAAFg/2wJ8aMjaZdA/s1600/IMG_0149.jpg"  />

The <a href="https://pkdcharity.org.uk" target="new5">PKD Charity</a> gave me lots of support, advice and encouragement throughout my illness and I know my children Joy & Jake are at risk of the disease as it is hereditary. I'm therefore keen to support the brilliant work of the charity.

In lockdown I had to shield as I am on immunosuppressant drugs to protect my transplant, I started walking late at night to avoid being close to people and eventually in May 2021 started to run with the Health & Hustle group (https://h8h2019.blogspot.com) that run Couch to 5k from the local Gloucestershire CCG HQ. I never would have thought I could run, but with the support of others I have succeeded. Now I'm running 5K a few times and week - it's great for my physical and mental health.

A few years ago my stepson Mike ran the London Marathon for PKD and raised a lot of money - so I thought now I can run, why not me. I decided to challenge myself to raise money, hence the Half and 10K runs I've planned.

My amazing family are going to support me, my son/stepsons Jake, Andy & Mike will run the Tewkesbury half with me. They  are also going to run the Cheltenham Half/10K with me along with my daughter/daughter-in-law Joy and Kay - so they'll be a group of us and we're looking forward to a family photo with our completion medals at the end.

PKD needs a lot more research and impacts many more people than realise it, affecting more than just the kidneys. If you feel able to support me to support the charity I would be very grateful.

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.