Hello! I’m going to be running the 2020 London Marathon to raise money for Operation Smile. This will be my first ever marathon and a huge challenge but hopefully extremely rewarding, fundraising for such a worthy cause.

Every 3 minutes a child is born with a cleft condition, for those living in resource poor countries the harsh reality is that many of them will die from malnourishment or other associated complications before reaching adulthood. Those that do live with a cleft condition encounter difficulty breathing, eating and speaking and many are left to live in complete isolation from their peers, communities and even their own families.

Operation Smile is an international medical charity that is continuously working to create a world where no child suffers from a lack of access to safe, well-timed surgery, where no parent has to tell their child that there are no options or that there is no hope. To date Operation Smile has conducted more than 300,000 surgeries in over 40 countries and my target of £2500 will fund over 16 life-changing operations.

Operation Smile is a charity which is close to my heart and I have fundraised for them several times before. I was born with a cleft palate though thanks to the amazing healthcare we have available in the UK, I was operated on twice for free by the NHS, something we take for granted yet are so privileged to have. The surgeon who operated on me is a volunteer for Operation Smile and is how I first came to know about the charity. Please donate if you are able to such a worthy cause where short operations can have such a huge impact, allowing people something so simple yet important as a smile.

I’m definitely no long distance runner but with training and your support, we can hopefully make a huge positive impact on these children’s lives.