Sandra's London Marathon fundraising page
Sandra Horsfield is raising money for UK for UNHCR
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Thank you for visiting my JustGiving page in support of the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
The desperate situation refugees find themselves in needs no explanation. The war in Ukraine has created in many more of them overnight - which feels especially close to home to me as not only a European, but as someone with (distant) relatives in Ukraine. But of course there are millions of others elsewhere too, who are displaced for a multitude of reasons and in places very ill equipped to assist them without external support, which the UNHCR has much expertise in providing.
What many of you may not know though is that support for the UNHCR is deeply personal to me. In fact, I was once a refugee who benefitted from their aid. When I was three years old, my parents chose to (illegally and practically overnight) leave their country - Romania - with just two suitcases and leave me in the care of my grandmother rather than my father becoming an informant for
the Communist regime’s Secret Service, as he had been asked to. They made the morally right choice at a huge personal sacrifice. It took a year, and the help of the UNHCR, for them to be granted political asylum in Germany and for me to be able to join them there. I will forever admire my parents’ integrity and bravery. And I will continue to express my thanks to the UNHCR by paying it forward wherever I can, as I have already done for many years.
Please can I ask you to donate to this very worthy cause by sponsoring me to run the London Marathon this year. This is not only my first marathon but my first race besides the 5k Parkrun I have ever done, having taken up running during lockdown. Training is going well so far - I am now able to run a half marathon distance (quite) comfortably. But a whole marathon will be a massive
effort, and I thank my family for their patience and for bearing with me as I train, train and train some more. Please wish me good luck!
Thanks so much for your support, it means so much to me.
Sandra