Hi!

As some of you may know, on the 25th April I will be running the Virgin London Marathon in aid of the Shooting Star Children's Hospice.

As a novice runner, the past few months have been tough.... a difficult journey of early morning starts; severly aching limbs; running through ice-cold snowy conditions and seafront gale-force winds; ... not to mention a steep decline in my weekend partying!

With this being my first Marathon, the experience is fast becoming the toughest challenge of my life so far. One year ago I could barely manage a 5k run around Clapham Common (!), but through blood, sweat, tears and a LOT of pounding the treadmill, I'm proud to say that I've just completed my first half-marathon with both legs in tact.

To be given the chance to run the London Marathon for such a worthy cause as The Shooting Star Children's Hospice is a great honour. For those who dont know, Shooting Star is an incredible charity based in Hampton, Surrey that provides care and support for children with life-limiting conditions. It strives to enhance quality of life throughout the course of a child’s illness, and help the families who find themselves in these unimaginable circumstances.

Shooting Star has no statutory funding and stays open through public donations. It costs £8000 per day just to maintain the care services they provide. Every penny donated to the cause makes a difference, for example just £35 could pay for a parent counselling session.

So please dig deep and donate whatever you can. I'd really appreciate your help!

My brother Justin is also running, so if you would like to visit his page, you can find him at http://www.justgiving.com/Justin-Crashaw  

Sophia xx

ps. Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.