Thank you for taking the time to visit my page. 

On 23 April 2017 I will be running (not walking... if all goes to plan) the 26.2 miles of the London marathon in aid of Emunah. 

Emunah is an organisation in Israel that helps children and families who come from backgrounds of abuse, poverty, ill health and violence. But it is more than an organisation - it is a family. Every child who enters the Emunah family is treated with the love, support and individuality many of us have been fortunate enough to take for granted from our own families.

Pain, suffering or tragedy can have more than a physical impact - often it is invisible; it is psychological impacting the way a person interacts with the world around them, inhibiting relationships and creating self-destructive patterns. 

The support provided by Emunah to each child and their family helps break the negative cycles and provides each child with the belief in a positive future.

I have been fortunate to see the incredible work of Emunah first hand. Please indulge me with a few more minutes of your time (depending on your reading speed), to share my experience:

A few years ago I was involved in running a Jewish youth movement which, on an annual basis, invited a few children supported by Emunah to our summer camps in the UK. These children were incredible, their smiles, warmth and social skills belied any difficulties of their childhood. 

I was privileged to get to know each of these children and to see how well they integrated with their British peers - neither language nor culture could undermine the relationships forged between the children. 

I travelled to Israel soon after completing one of the camps and I was invited to visit one of the Emunah homes to see the children I had taken on camp only a few months prior. Two things I remember in particular:

1. The smiles on their faces when I came in, how proud they were of their home and introducing me to their friends.

2. They told me how a few of their friends from camp had come to Israel and they had gone out together.

I later found out that the two children I had taken had been abused by a family member when they were younger. Being with them for two weeks on camps and later seeing them in the comfort of their home - you would never believe it! 

This is the work of Emunah. 

This is why I am running for Emunah.

This is why I am begging you to donate today! You have read this far, just a few more clicks. Please!

Having started training I can tell you this is one of the hardest things I have ever attempted! Training is tough, 26.2 miles is a long distance! To give myself an extra challenge I am training, not in the warmth of Israel, or temperatures of London but the freezing rain of Manchester!!! 

I have even set myself a target time of under 4.5 hours - a significant challenge for someone who has never run more than a 10k previously!

So please help me get through the rainy, cold, painful training regime and help me to keep going when I hit the proverbial (at least I hope its only proverbial) wall and my brain and legs say no more, please, no more.

One last point; all your donation goes to Emunah I am paying £396 to cover the costs of entry and anything else Emunah are providing.

I will try to provide updates to my training - I anticipate most will be to do with achy knees, wet weather, achy legs, wet weather, nutrition, wet weather, physiotherapy for the achy knees/legs and something to do with the weather.

Thank you for being my teammate on this 26.2 mile journey.

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