This is the big one.

I've been working at the Manchester & Salford branch of the RSPCA for 6 years and in that time I've done a few fundraising challenges: 10km runs, abseils, zipslides, half marathons (thank you everyone for your past sponsorship.) This is by far the hardest, the scariest and the most challenging of them. A marathon. It's 26.2 miles. That's a really long way.

Why am I prepared to run a really long way? Because I know the money will be used well to help animals that might otherwise not get a chance. If you know me then you'll probably have seen lots of cute photos of cats, kittens, rabbits etc. These are all critters that have come through this branch of the RSPCA for rehabilitation and rehoming. I've personally welcomed 92 different animals into my home since January 2013 fostering on a voluntary basis and I'm just one of a network of foster carers who help the branch take in between 500 and 600 animals a year that have been rescued from cruelty and neglect.

My most recent foster kitten has been Lupin, who came into our care in November as a 3 month old who had some sort of accident and had to have metal pins inserted in her leg and pelvis to hold her together. Her prognosis was already "guarded" before she then developed the worst case of cat flu I've ever seen which caused her to lose a lot of weight and she had to be admitted to the vets for a couple of weeks for treatment. I'm pleased to say that she's since made a great recovery in the months since then and has been wrecking my house, terrorising my cat Waldon and has just found herself a new home. But it's taken months and she has cost the branch a small fortune in vet bills. So I shall be thinking of her silly snotty face as I'm in hour 4 of this stupidly long run and I hope you will think of her and others like her and bung me a bit of sponsorship.

Thank you xx

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