When I turned 40, ahem-hem harrr years ago, I had pestered my long-suffering wife Debbie for many years how much I wanted to run the London Marathon as it would be such an incredible achievement: so I did.. My first one will amazingly, have been 10 years ago next year and was so bitten by the bug I did it all again in 2011 and then the last time in 2013.. 

"So what on earth made you do it this time ?" (I hear you asking) and do you know what? I'm really glad you asked. My background these last near 20 years have seen me work in an emergency services control room for the most of it, but three years ago I changed direction and have been a part of the Missing and Child Exploitation Team here in Kent. What I have experienced these last three years has been nothing short of incredible. 

In amongst all the crisis and trauma the children we deal with every day, I am constantly amazed at their resilience in sometimes the toughest of environments. I have a much better understanding of what would make someone go missing than I did 3 years ago, but more importantly, I am more aware than ever of the sense of bewilderment and sheer helplessness the parents or carers of these children suffer when they literally don't know where their children are (think about that for a minute.. right now.. for those with children.. if you've even lost them in Tesco for 30 seconds, how your stomach sinks) We help build bridges as best we can with multi-agencies and put interventions in place trying our best to help that child be the best they can be; it doesn't always work but we have plenty of success stories too. 

Missing People help us out when we need a wider publicity appeal and tend to use their services only for the children (and adults) at highest risk; so be assured when you visit their website, every face you see will be in their own crisis and in need of help, love and support. Missing People however,  not only publicise, they do SO much more to help those desperate families, bereft in their feelings of missing their loved one so much and offer so many different levels and varieties of support to give that little bit of hope of achieving the ultimate goal; the sentence they all crave; "They've been found"

They are of course a charity, and rely entirely on donations and fundraising events like this to maintain their work as literally otherwise, they just wouldn't be there. There are a million amazing causes and charities out there all equally deserving, but this is the one that's special to me, because I know the amazing work these people do; 24/7, 365 days a year. Thanks for reading this far, and if you have; this is the point where hopefully, you've got your bank card out ready to support me and if you have.. give yourself a great big pat on the back because what you're about to do is bloody fantastic and I literally CAN NOT thank you enough. Feel free immediately, to then glow in your own smugness for at least the next day or two, feeling ridiculously good about yourself.. 

Thanks for your support with my London Marathon JustGiving challenge!
My page donations will be sent direct to the charity in a fast and secure way. Its efficient, saves time and cuts costs for the charity. Let's do this!