I'm not a runner - in fact before October I'd never ran further than 5k... and I'd only done that once and I hated it.

By some stroke of good (or perhaps bad) fortune I was successful in getting a ballot place for this year's London Marathon. I love a good challenge, so I've set myself the target of trying to complete the marathon in under 4 hours, which I'm told is a decent time for a man of my age (the average male runner crosses the London Marathon finishing line in 4 hours 15 minutes). It's going to be a big challenge, particularly for someone who didn't even own a pair of running shoes six months ago.

To make the challenge a bit more meaningful, and to help spur me on through those painful miles, I wanted to fundraise for the charity that my mum set up, Utange Orphans Charity.

For those who don't know the story, the charity was set up over ten years ago following our family's trip to Kenya. Initially the purpose of the charity was to build an orphanage and educate a number of AIDS orphans living in the village of Utange. It's been amazing to get to know the children, who now feel like family, and to see those 4-8 year olds grow up into amazing teenagers and adults who are now off to secondary school, college and even University.

Additional projects have been started by the charity in recent years, including a feeding programme, and building and opening a secondary school in the village. Previously, there were a number of primary schools in the area, but there was a gap for accessible secondary education. Last year the charity opened Celebration High School in Utange, and this January the school took in its second intake of new students. It's all very exciting.

I'm proud of the work that my mum and those who run the charity have been doing over the past ten+ years. I'm fundraising to continue supporting the projects that the charity have been running, and am excited to hear about all the extra things that might be achieved by any sponsorship donations you may be so kind to make for my marathon efforts.