On 3rd November 2024, alongside some colleagues at Artemis Investment Management, I'm running the iconic New York City Marathon in support of Kids Operating Room (KidsOR).

Why we're running for KidsOR is that 1.75 billion children don't have access to safe surgery!

This lack of surgical access, however, isn't spread evenly worldwide: 87% of these children live in low- and middle- income countries. KidsOR estimate that an additional 54 million children’s surgical procedures are needed annually to solve the global surgical crisis.

Behind this number, there are 1.75 billion children who are suffering, or even worse, dying, because of where they were born.

In these low-resource countries, the men are operated on first, then the women. If there is a slot available at the end of the day, children can be operated on. This means that many families won't get the timely surgical care their children require. These families would also have to travel long distances on little money only to be turned away at the hospital because they don't have the necessary infrastructure to care for so many children.

Children who break a leg shouldn’t live the rest of their lives in disability, babies who need simple procedures in the first hours of life shouldn’t be left to die. And children born with urological conditions shouldn’t be denied an education because they can’t access the simple operation they need.

It costs just £75 for a child to have a life-saving operation in a KidsOR Operating Room. Any donations are greatly appreciated and will help more children have access to life-saving surgery.

Thanks in advance.