Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

STOP PRESS : 11/10/09  - RACE COMPLETED IN 2 HOURS 15 MINUTES --- faster than my wildest expectations! The day was very enjoyable and well organised and I felt very satisfied as I crossed the finish line! Many thanks to all who have donated, which has been a great inspiration to me. For anyone who would still like to donate, the donation line remains open,

I am the CEO of Abbeyfield, the charity that enhances the quality of life for elderly people by providing care homes and sheltered houses - something we have been doing since Abbeyfield was founded in 1956.

One of the special things about life in an Abbeyfield home is the companionship and activities that our residents enjoy - living in an Abbeyfield is definitely about living life to the full. Most of our residents are aged over 85 and many are in their 90's or even over 100!

Living life to the full in one of our care homes includes having plenty to stimulate body and mind. Recently Nintendo open our eyes to a new way of doing this by demonstrating their Wii console in some of our homes. The impact of this best described in the following extract from our website :

"Skiing for 87 year olds! Walking sticks and zimmer frames proved to be good aid on a Wii-Fit last week when residents at Abbeyfield houses in Yorkshire, Essex and Nottinghamshire became members of the latest generation to become enamored with the computer game that aims to improve fitness. Abbeyfield resident Joan Jenkinson, aged 81, tried out the ski jump and slalom games at Abbeyfield in Braintree, Essex and pronounced the experience "I loved it!, I would like to have another go"."

Supplying Wii consoles to our care homes will cost around £5000, so when I decided to run in the Royal Parks Half Marathon on 11th October 2009 I thought that raising funds to enable this to happen would be an ideal target. The running will definitely improve my health and fitness and the Wii consoles will impact the very heart of what life in Abbeyfield care home is all about, providing our residents with a healthier, more stimulating, active life.

Its a long time since I carried out a significant run -- 1985 in fact when I ran in the London Marathon, an event sponsored by my employers at the time , Mars. Running a half marathon now will do my health and fitness a lot of good, and raise money for our elderly and frail residents at the same time. Training is going well so far - I have been building up gradually an ran a full hour for the first time this evening (29th July).

If you are able to sponsor me by making a donation, many many thanks.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.