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How many of us take our sight for granted? Every single aspect of most of our daily lives is vision based. All of my memories, my relationships, my jobs and my hobbies almost certainly wouldn’t have happened they way they have without my eyesight.

Not everyone is that fortunate and a couple of chance encounters in the last year, or so, really got me thinking.

Some of you know that my lovely wife, Kim, is a guide runner for the visually impaired. Last year she began running with a young lady by the name of Seren. Despite the challenges Seren has faced in her life, her outlook, determination and spirit is unbridled. She’s truly inspirational and has amassed an impressive 700K+ social media following, enabling her to spread the word about her condition.

A couple of very simple, everyday things she mentioned really struck a chord. The vending machine at her college has been ‘upgraded’ with a touch screen and her local convenience store has introduced self-service checkouts. She no longer knows where to start!

The next was the simple act of crossing the road. She couldn’t hear the hybrid car approaching the crossing until the driver started shouting abuse at her as she stepped off the kerb.

Another story was much closer to home. Last year, a couple of RAF Typhoon jet fighters carried out some training at our local Gloucestershire Airport. It’s rare - and quite spectacular - to see and hear - front line jet military hardware at a small civilian airport and the local community Facebook groups were awash with interest and comments.

One post really stood out for me. 7-year old Molly’s mum posted to ask if anyone had any videos. She went on to say her partially-sighted daughter absolutely loves aeroplanes and was upset because she could hear all the commotion but not see it.

The positive power of social media came to the fore and the photos and video clips soon came flooding in. Molly’s condition enables her to see things close up and the videos put a smile on her face. It also, indirectly, led to Molly coming along to the airfield with the charity fly2help for a behind-the-scenes tour and a helicopter flight!

Most of you know that aviation is my life. I’ve loved it for more than 50 years, worked in it for 35 and it’s given me some amazing experiences, friends and even a wife! I’m certain it wouldn’t have been the same without my eyesight and it’s so easy to take that for granted.

The visually impaired don’t want our sympathy but they do benefit from our support, so, when the opportunity to run the London Marathon for the RNIB came along, I took it! On 21st April, I’ll be pounding out 26.2 miles around the Capital and I’d be hugely grateful for your support.

I know what you might be thinking. ‘He’s done that before, he likes running…’ Both of those things are true. This will be my third attempt at London but, I promise, that doesn’t make it any easier.

It’s six years since the last time. I’m a good couple of stone heavier and I’m 53! I began training in November and it’s slowly coming together, but there’s still a long way to go - in every sense. Getting out of the door on a cold, wet February evening after a long day in the workshop or simulator for a double-figure mileage training run takes determination. I’m doing it by choice, but Molly and Seren and the thousands of people that RNIB supports, need that determination for everything they do in their daily lives.

RNIB is committed to helping blind and partially sighted people and your sponsorship will make that happen.

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