In a moment of madness, back in November, I signed up to run the Edinburgh marathon. It is now less than 2 weeks away and with my training being disrupted by revising for and then celebrations after finals, I am feeling fairly nervy as the date approaches. Since January I have run 461km so I am massively looking forward to putting my feet up (and not running again for a very long time) after the finish line!

When thinking of what charity to support nothing immediately sprung to mind and so I started researching efficient charities as I would hate for any money given to not be spent effectively.  This led me to the "Give Well" website and a TED talk by philosopher Peter Singer. He spoke about the charity SCI foundation and how it costs $40,000 to train a guide dog in the US and just $20 to cure a blind person in a developing country from trachoma. So you do the sums.. 1 guide dog for 1 blind person or save 2000 people's sight.

If you believe that all lives are equal, then surely its a no-brainer as to which is the better cause to give to.

The SCI foundation consistently places in the top 10 of GiveWell's most efficient charities. Their mission is to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a group of infectious parasitic worms and bacterial diseases that affect over 1 billion people in the world’s poorest and most marginalised communities. The medications needed to eradicate these diseases are inexpensive and effective yet there are still millions of people out there not receiving treatment.

It costs just 30p for the SCI foundation to supply a child with praziquantel treatment for schistosomiasis, a parasitic worm causing long term health problems such as infertility, bladder cancer, anaemia and neurological problems. 

My aim is to raise £200, in turn providing 600 children with medication to cure their schistosomiasis. 

Small donations make a huge difference (1 coffee = £3 = 9 children) - and I thank you in advance for your incredible generosity! Knowing that some money is being raised for a great cause will make the pain of each step of that daunting 42km slightly less painful!