In December 2018, I was fortunate to be selected through the public ballot to run London Marathon in April 2019. After many unsuccessful ballot attempts, and due to moving into a new running age group, the organisers must have taken pity on me.

Having secured and paid my entry, I decided for once in my long running career, I would raise funds for a charity. Having volunteered for Country Holidays for Inner City Kids (CHICKs) for quite a number of years, I have decided to raise funds for this very special charity.

The charity provides young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds and young carers with the opportunity to enjoy a holiday at one of their 2 residential locations in Derbyshire or Cornwall. Both locations provide the children who attend a break with lots of opportunities to develop their self confidence, gain new friends, challenge themselves to overcome fears and enjoy activities they may never have done before. It is the same for us volunteers!

It costs around £970 to fund a place for a child to attend a holiday and I would love to try and raise enough funds to cover the cost of a weeks holiday for a deserving child.

You can learn more about the charity from www.chicks.org.uk and if you ever fancy volunteering then just check out the application process on the website.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and for your donations in support of CHICKs.

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you and wish me well as 26.2 miles is never easy or fun but knowing this time I have the support of all the kids from CHICKs will make each step much easier. Willo