In 2024 I will be taking on my biggest and quite scary challenge to complete my first Marathon at the London Marathon. I want to use this opportunity to raise money for a cause that is close to mine and the Dowden family’s hearts - WaterAid. This is a charity that my late Uncle David was very passionate about and therefore I would like to use this challenge to pick up the baton and continue fundraising on his behalf.

For those of you who knew Uncle David he had travelled the world to the nth degree, driving ice cream vans to Timbuktu for charity, trekking in some of the wildest countries in the world and seeing first hand the difference that clean water and hygiene can make to peoples lives. He was a very unique adventurous character and I’m sure many of you will have received presents of WaterAid donations from him amongst seeing his advocacy for charitable causes. Sadly he passed away early this year after a battle with cancer but leaves a legacy of wanderlust and challenge behind him. For me and my sister Kate he was a pretty cool uncle to have grown up with and has really shaped us to want to learn about the world and push ourselves outside our comfort zones and make change where we can. I’ll be thinking of him as I push myself on literally every step of this challenge which this will be especially as I’m starting from scratch after a knee injury!

For those of you who don’t know WaterAid they are a fantastic charity with a simple mission: to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. These are things we all take for granted as basics in our lives, but many don’t have that privilege and without them can’t live dignified, healthy lives. Sadly today 1 in 10 people across the world don’t have access to these three things, and therefore struggle to break out of poverty while as a result 800 children die everyday. This disproportionally impacts women and girls who are often left with the task of fetching water and may need to stay at home during their periods meaning they miss out on education, whilst face high risks without clean water during childbirth.

I hope to raise at least £2620 through my fundraising to support this brilliant mission. This money will be used to build eight 10,000 litre water tanks in Zambia! 

Over the next 6 months I’ll be doing various fundraising events and will keep this page and my Strava updated as I go. Any donation you can make, even as small as £1 will be appreciated, I know the cost of living crisis is more than real so your generosity no matter how big seriously means a lot! 

Thanks,

Emi