Hi everyone,

Thanks for visiting my JustGiving page. I am doing the Royal Parks Marathon on 10/10/10 and am terrified! I will be red, sweaty and crying by the end, but along the way I hope to have raised lots of money to literally save children.

Whilst thinking about where I wanted the money to go the most, I couldn't decide between our current emergency work in Niger and Afghanistan (so many children to save, so little time!), so I have opted to put the money towards our Children's Emergency Fund - this is a big pool of money that Save the Children can use as soon as an emergency happens or is declared, without having to wait for funds to be raised.

Children in Afghanistan are more likely to die before the age of five than children anywhere else in the world, with more than 850 dying a day, according to the UN. Many die from easily treatable illnesses like diarrhoea or pneumonia.

Niger also already has one of the worst child survival rates in the world – one in six children don’t make it to their fifth birthday and we know that half of these deaths are linked to malnutrition. The worsening situation in Niger is putting even more children’s lives at risk.

Save the Children is also implementing long term social protection strategies to ensure the help is long term and sustainable in both Afghanistan and Niger. But we need your help! Here is what we could do with your donation:

- £3 will provide a high nutrition peanut paste for a malnourished child for one week. See the video to see how this can really save a child's life in emergencies

- £12 can buy equipment to measure the height of babies and young children as part of the screening process for malnutrition in Niger

- £16 pays for blankets for a household suffering during a harsh winter in Afghanistan

- £27.00 can provide a vital cash grant to a family with young children, enabling them to purchase food for their children and help protect and grow their means of earning a living in Niger

- £80 pays for a community health worker to survey villages for malnourished children in Afghanistan

Please help the children in Afghanistan and Niger now! As you can see, they really need your help! Also you can see my recent fundraising/training exploits on my blog.

Many thanks,

Lucy