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As many of you know, members of Alex’s family are affected by
a degenerative eye condition, retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a rare genetic disorder that involves a gradual progressive loss of vision. Alex's family’s symptoms include a loss of peripheral vision ("tunnel vision") and the inability to see at night and in low light. There is currently no cure.

Growing up, Alex has watched his Grandmother and Father cope with RP admirably. They never complain and refuse to let it get them down. However, RP does have a huge impact on their daily lives as neither can read, drive, or walk at night without help, and they are constantly bumping into things. The symptoms continue to deteriorate with age, to the extent that Alex's Grandmother can now only see blurry shapes and differences in colour (all within narrow tunnel vision). These are symptoms that my brother and  sister will also become all too familiar with, as they have been diagnosed with RP too.

We are running the London Marathon for Retina UK as it is the only UK charity dedicated to people affected by inherited sight loss like Alex's family. Retina UK provides vital practical and emotional support to help those affected by inherited sight loss lead better lives, such as providing a telephone befriending service for those feeling isolated or lonely. They also stimulate and fund medical research to accelerate the search for treatments in the future, hopefully for the likes of Alex's brother and sister.  If you'd like to find out more about the amazing things Retina does, just have a look at their website: https://retinauk.org.uk/.

It's a hugely worthy cause and we really appreciate anything you can spare to help push us through the 26.2 miles and reach our target.

Thank you so much, Alex and Becca.