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

I am challenging myself to my first marathon and hoping for your generous support to help me through the training and on race day to raise money for the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre. 

It is true to say that I am not a runner and this is going to be a real stretch. I am just determined to be a live example to my 2 eldest children, touched by dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and childhood epilepsy that when the going gets tough, if you channel your energy, your focus, your passion and your drive, you will be amazed at what you can achieve and our family mantra of "nothing is impossible" will ring true.

We were living in America when my son Charlie's teacher said to me that his scissor skills were not up to scratch.  I confidently replied that this was not surprising because as the first born, his experience with scissors had been scant at best, how little I knew then......looking back now that conversation was the first footstep in the journey of celebrating how we are all wired differently and that is what makes us unique, special and interesting.  

Having children who struggle to read, write and spell or any kind of learning difference, takes an enormous amount of patience (which I have always had in limited supply), love, understanding and energy.  The Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre has been an oasis of calm, knowledge and support to our family in recent times.   

They have led the way in dyslexia support and educational provision in the UK and the struggle against prejudice and ignorance that has changed the perception of educationalists and the medical profession amongst others. They support dyslexics and train specialists and teachers. They still depend on charitable donations rather than public funding suggesting there is still a long way to go.  

As a thank you for all the work they do and continue to do to help dyslexics I am delighted to be running this year to raise money for the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre.  I hope you can spare a few pounds to help motivate me on my run and raise money for this great cause.

Thank you for your support!

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