There are several key touch points in my life when I have run the London 10K for very personal reasons. The organisations that I choose to run for are always very close to my heart, and have made a tangible difference to someone important in my life. 2017 was a pivotal year, in the hardest way I have ever experienced, or probably ever will again, and once more I find myself running... 

Drake Music is a charity that supports people of all ages to break down barriers to music-making, through the use of technology. Their vision is a world where disabled people have the same range of opportunities as their non-disabled peers, and a culture of inclusive music-making, where disabled and non-disabled musicians collaborate as equals. I am lucky to be able to work for Drake Music, and hope that every day I go into work makes a difference. However none of the work, commissions, bespoke instrument building, training, artistic collaborations, education, performances or advocacy can take place without funding to make it happen. When funding is raised, there are often conditions on how it can be spent. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it challenging to sustain smaller projects and programmes that make a real difference to people’s opportunities to make music, year on year. In Bristol, the Electric Storm Ensemble puts adults living in residential settings centre stage, performing at festivals and jamming for fun. In London, disabled and non-disabled young people come together for Soundbox, a ground-breaking partnership with Spitalfields Music and The London Symphony Orchestra. In Manchester, Disabled musicians co-create wild and wonderful new musical instruments in collaboration with technologists at the North West DMLab. I am running the Vitality London 10k to support these amazing programmes.

I am training hard, but I do find it more motivating to get out and run in all weathers when I know people have contributed and are relying on me! It would be amazing if you could make a donation. It doesn’t have to be a large amount, every single pound given makes a difference. You can follow the amazing work of the musicians, artists, technologists and educators working with Drake Music on social media and through the website at http://www.drakemusic.org/. 

If you want to read more about what has motivated my running this year, you can visit my blog at the link below. I may well run the 10k again, but I hope it is simply because I like running in the future and there isn't a story to be told...

https://areluctantwidow.weebly.com/home/running-to-remove-barriers