This September , the Great North Run (GNR) celebrates its fortieth birthday. I will be running it for the sixth and last time. Sadly , since the last run , I have lost two valued friends and colleagues. 

Alan Garcia Scott lost his long fight against cancer, late 2019 

Then recently we lost Mick Scott, who died suddenly after a massive heart attack,. 

I trained both of them when they first joined the Civil Service and remained friends with them over the years. Both had a tremendous sense of humour , the life and souls of any party and were genuinely good lads .Their loss is tragic and they have been taken from us far too early. I planned to honour both of their memories by splitting any money raised  to cancer and heart charities.. However,  after talking to Joanne , Mick’s partner , she was keen that all monies go to St Oswalds - “it’s what Mick would have wanted “ .

it will not fill the void they have left for family and friends but hopefully monies raised can help support others in the future. Any donation you can provide will be greatly appreciated.