As some of you may know, in June 2009 the world lost an amazing girl. Lana El-Masry was a brilliant,  bubbly, crazy, loyal lady who had a big heart. She touched my life and I feel lucky that I met her, even if I never got the chance to get to know her better.

Lana was a big supporter of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and so I have run as part of Team CF in a number of road races (Great North Run in 2009, Great Manchester Run in 2010, Berlin Marathon 2011) to raise money for this fantastic cause. This year (2012) I will be running once more for Team CF in the Great North Run in the hope that this final 13.1 mile stretch will smash that £2000 target.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the UK's most common life-threatening inherited disease. Cystic Fibrosis affects over 8,000 people in the UK. Over two million people in the UK carry the faulty gene that causes CF - around 1 in 25 of the population. If two carriers have a child, the baby has a 1 in 4 chance of having CF. Cystic Fibrosis affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, by clogging them with thick sticky mucus. This makes it hard to breathe and digest food.

Each week, five babies are born with Cystic Fibrosis and three people lose their fight against Cystic Fibrosis. Around half of the CF population can expect to live over 35 years, although improvements in treatments mean a baby born today could expect to live even longer.

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is the UK's only national charity dealing with all aspects of CF including support, education, care, campaigning and medical research. For more info on Cystic Fibrosis, please visit http://www.cftrust.org.uk/

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you for your support and taking the time to read this,

love Nat xxx