Hello lovely people and thank you so much for visiting my Justgiving page. 

I am hoping to raise a minimum of £450.00 for the Sanctuary which is the amount it costs them every single day to look after the lost, unwanted and abandoned animals in their care. The Sanctuary is not currently able to operate at full capacity and has had to close a number of cat pens solely because of a lack of funds so I would like to raise as much money as possible for them, with your help.

Many of you will remember that I did the Three Peaks Challenge for Peggy Henderson's five years ago and, with your generous help and support, we were able to raise lots of desperately needed funds for them then - thank you again, FAB result. 

As we are now a whole five years on from the hallowed days of The Three Peaks Challenge however, I think any self-respecting self-help book would be encouraging me at this point to “recognise my own limitations” and I was therefore thinking about doing something a bit more sedate this time - something fun rather than the exhausted mud-smeared tears of the Three Peaks.

I read somewhere that all the best ideas come to you in the early hours of the morning. Hmmmm. I'm fairly sure it was around 1 o'clock in the morning when my friend Nikki (who ran the Manchester Half Marathon in October) came up with the “idea” of us all entering the Manchester 10k in May - which my other friend Paula and I immediately thought was a MARVELLOUS idea (neither of us having of course run anywhere since we were at Chorlton Convent...that's a school btw, not a nunnery). In fact SO enthused were we, that we all entered ourselves into the Manchester 10k then and there. Wine ladies, is the enemy. Anyway, my 'training programme' is set to start this week so “exhausted mud-smeared tears” it is then. Again. FFS!!! I will try to do regular updates over the next few months (possibly, at times, from A&E) so you can see how it is all coming along - and how hard earned any donations will actually be! The initial training programme Nikki has recommended for me is called “The Couch to 5k” which just about sums up what she considers my starting point to be despite all the dog walking I do! Our Whatsapp 'Group Chat' which we will use to motivate each other (and by motivate 'each other' I mean will allow Nikki and Paula to check I'm keeping to my programme) is headed up The Adidas Amigos which is a passing nod to the day I will be able to rock the proper Adidas 'running kit' in the same way they do...and by rock, I mean fit into. In the meantime, Nikki has assured me that I'm ready to roll. She says a pair of running shoes and some basic running gear is all that is required. And that's it. I'm ready to go. I did query whether a will to live isn't also required but that, apparently, is not essential.  So, I have my trainers - complete with the ever important Trainer Tags. Yes! Trainer Tags! Who knew? Once we had (rather rashly) entered ourselves into the race, next on the agenda was to all go off and get our very own Trainer Tags to help get us “in the zone”. I clearly missed a communication somewhere along the line though because Nikki (ie “Bronzed Goddess”) came back with “I don't sweat, I sparkle” and Paula (ie “Domestic Goddess”) came back with “I can. I will. End of story”, and so it was with some reluctance that I had to show my trainer tags which say “If I pass out..please note my time”. As with the Three Peaks, my border collie Flo (who came from the Sanctuary almost 12 years ago) will be helping me with this latest challenge. Despite her advancing years she is still fit enough to 'train' with me..ie come out running with me...in the cold and the dark. Fortunately for Flo she has gone quite deaf in her early dotage and so has heard nothing yet of these “plans”. Blissful ignorance I think is the term. 

Finally, many of you will have seen me out and about over the years with “Maggie the Beagle” (Nikki's gorgeous gorgeous girl and TOTAL character) and will know that we lost her last year to illness which was just utterly devastating. As well as trying to raise as much money as possible for Peggy Henderson's therefore, we will also be running in memory of Maggie who brought us all so much laughter (and, later lots - and lots - of tears) and we will be thinking of her when things get tough #RegalBeagle 

Thank you so much in advance for any support you can offer. Every penny donated via this page goes directly to Peggy Henderson's and every penny matters so do please only donate what you can knowing that every contribution, however small, is a tremendous help in caring for all the lost, unwanted and abandoned animals currently in the care of the Sanctuary. 

PS It has just been suggested by another friend that, during my training sessions, I carry a small card on me with my "ICE Number" on it. Apparently ICE stands for "In Case of Emergency". So there's a vote of confidence...