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I am running Ipswich Half Marathon 22 September 2013 in support of Women's Aid.

Over two women per week are killed by current or ex-partners. One in four women in the UK will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

Experience domestic violence shatters your life in millions of pieces. You lose your confidence, personality and most important your faith in yourself and other people.

It takes many years to feel like the person you were before the violence and be able to smile genuinely again.  Nightmares and the feeling he is around the corner wears off after some time, but I guess they will never completely go away. It is a struggle every day.

Talking to friends and family will usually not understand why you just don't walk out after the first incident. It is months of him breaking you down mentally and alienating you from family and friends. When the physical abuse starts you feel like you don´t have anywhere to turn to, nowhere to go. Trapped in a life you hate and you are so weak you can´t see a way out of it.

Visits to the hospital, police visits and court procedures is a day to day thing, the worst is that you are so broken you think it is normal and nothing is wrong. You are in the darkest place you have ever been.

Getting out of an abusive relationship is very hard and takes a very long time to recover from. Support is very important and Women´s Aid is doing a great job. After an abusive relationship you need someone that understands someone to turn to that has experience with this. Women and children need a place to turn when they feel like you have no one else.

£150 can allow Woman´s aid to advice up to 30 professionals to help them protect those most at risk from violence at home.

£500 can allow Woman´s aid to produce special discrete safety cards with information to reach out to 5000 women in need.

£1000 can provide legal information and support to women in 15 local services to help them rebuild their life's after abuse.

My goal is to raise £1000 to help women rebuild their life's after abuse. I know how hard it is and that you really need all help you can get.

Running this half marathon is a small step in my recovery.

Please donate to this fantastic organisation. 

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So please dig deep and donate now.