In September I'll be running the Great North Run in support of Guide Dogs. Almost two million people in the UK are living with sight loss that has a significant impact on their daily lives. Of those, around 180,000 rarely leave their homes alone and lead lonely, isolated lives.

Guide Dogs works for a world where people with sight loss are never left out of life, for a world where being blind or partially sighted is not what defines you. A world with enough support to make the challenges of sight loss no barrier to fulfilling hopes and dreams.

Having tackled a couple of half marathons in the past and narrowly avoiding finishing last in each, I'll be looking to beat my best time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, and with any luck I'll get to celebrate with a Guide Dog at the finish line.