I'm running for The Children's Society to help generate support networks and care for children who may be vulnerable in society or feel they've got no one or no resources around them.

When I was a kid there were moments where I felt really alone, scared, vulnerable and confused. I didn't know then that there were organisations like the Children's Society fighting to give children a voice in their reality. I often felt unconsidered and devalued by the systems and structures that made legal decisions on where I was to live and how. When I was only 9 years old, I moved from North Carolina to Hawaii with my dad. I didn't know anyone and my dad was a good dad in many ways but he wasn't very emotionally supportive. I struggled to fit in, I was hugely self-conscious, experienced a lot of bullying and abuse from peers who singled me out because I was different and had an accent. My grades suffered and I thought it was because I wasn't good enough. If I hadn't have discovered books to escape to I don't know what would have happened. But my case was a comparatively lucky one, and now that I am an adult who has been able to succeed in my own right and achieve my dreams, even signing up for a marathon to compete in, I want to give back to children who might not have anyone fighting for them and their rights.