Hey there,

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

So for those that know me well, the London marathon has always been on my bucket list for quite some time. This year I finally decided to give it a shot and find an excuse to increase my running sessions, whilst at the same time tick this achievement off my "special list". 

Having failed through the ballot where we've seen the entries for 2018 event hit a record high (385,050 applicants for the 17,500 places available), I decided the next step was to run for a charity that I've been supporting over the last 12 years since university. 

I came across VSO (Volunteering Service Overseas) as a charity on campus and being a keen traveller myself, I was horrified with some of the less fortunate people out there within some of the countries I've set foot on. 

As a charity, VSO is helping to fight poverty through volunteering means. So by being able to recruit volunteers to go overseas they seek to help improve education, health and ultimately livelihoods. They believe in a saying you may be familiar with:
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

Every pound you raise does more than you may think. Just to put some numbers into perspective of what your kind donations can do I've highlighted a few facts on the benefits below. 

• £20 will keep a volunteer midwife in Sierra Leone for one week, helping to train nurses to save mothers from dying in childbirth.
• £50 will allow a VSO volunteer in Mozambique to give a woman with HIV the skills needed to start her own business.
• £150 can help even the poorest children in Nepal get an education.
• £900 can help change the fortunes of street children in Dhaka by paying for VSO volunteers to set up a 6 month education programme.  

Sometimes we all get lost in the thick of reality with our day jobs and do forget some of the unfortunate events still happening around us, particularly overseas. This is a real chance to get some exposure for a great charity undergoing a really worthy cause. I am honoured to be running for this group with amazing people and we need every help through your kind contributions to help eradicate overseas poverty.  

You can read more about the amazing work VSO are doing on a day to day below:
https://www.vsointernational.org/ 

Thank you for taking your time out reading this. 

Much love and thanks,
Anthony

P.s. 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.