Dear Friends and Family,

Never one to miss a trend, I’m almost through my twitchy late twenties trifecta. I’ve got the corner sofa, I’ve got the poodle-mix pooch. I now need to accomplish the toughest of them all - the half marathon. The accolade of the almost-adult. The final bout of metabolic youth, exhumed in an almighty huff n’ puff around London.

As a right old lazy bugger I can not emphasise enough how gravely ill-suited I am suited for this. My mother is the gallivanter of the family, not me, and of course she was the one who pushed me to do this, thinking this Royal Parks Half Marathon would be a delightful day out for the two of us. I should note she runs the ice lakes of Mongolia and the mountains of Peru. I on the other hand am happy in my stupefying lethargy. I have a funny knee, I can’t focus on anything for longer than 30 minutes and I don’t even have running shoes. (Last time I checked ‘Hoka’ was something I smoked at a beach bar in Ko Samui.)

However, while I struggle to get behind this running lark, what I can get behind is Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)- the charity that I have decided should benefit from this 2 hour sacrificial expulsion of my lungs.

I couldn’t say why I am running for GOSH without telling the story of my immeasurably brave niece, Aoife, who at 12 years old proved herself to be the strongest member of the Blacklay family when she learnt that she had a brain tumour. Her positive approach and her successful outcome would not have been possible without the unyielding support of GOSH.

It began last year when Aoife showed some symptoms that something wasn’t right. My brother Chris and his partner Amy took her to the doctors and after experiencing a series of stressful tests and scans, including various challenging MRIs, doctors discovered a 'shadow' on her brain. She was referred to the incredible teams at GOSH, where her journey took a hopeful turn.

GOSH is more than just a specialist hospital and research centre, it is a place that understands those scary things in a hospital that adults sometimes forget - the nasty smells, the noisy wards, the stressful and boring long waits etc. As well as the lengths they go to in their clinical care, GOSH takes care to ensure these small but significant comforts are met. As anyone who has been there will tell you, it is a sanctuary for children from the jarring world of adult hospitals.

Aoife's fear of hospitals, needles, and cannulas didn't hinder the compassionate care she received. GOSH staff were patient with her, taking extra time and care to get her ready for her first operation. The doctors at GOSH not only communicated constantly with Chris and Amy but they were able to provide practical support such as facilities to sleep and shower in, ensuring they could stay close to Aoife the whole time she was in hospital. Even her younger brother Arlo was included and offered a football table to play on and other games to keep him entertained, easing the family’s overall stress.

GOSH supported the whole family throughout and provided all the information they needed to make an informed decision about Aoife's treatment. They agreed that surgery was needed and in September 2023, Aoife underwent a long operation(8.5 hours) to remove the tumour in her head. Thanks to the expertise and sensitivity of the GOSH staff, the surgery was successful and, much to Aoife’s relief, they were able to support her going home quickly, remarkably just three days later.

The GOSH team was thoughtful about everything. They understand how important a teenager's hair is to them, and they were able to hide the surgical incision just behind her fringe, keeping her lovely (and may I say iconic) red hair intact and sparing her further emotional distress.

Following the surgery, the GOSH team have continued to support Aoife and her family. She had one further surgery last December and now they monitor her closely, without leaving any stone unturned. These treatments are long and complicated, and Aoife is handling it brilliantly with GOSH there every step of the way. A lot of the testing she is experiencing is truly cutting edge and only possible because of the investment GOSH have made in research and development. We feel so lucky that this was available to her, and so proud of Aoife who has been amazing throughout and I am so happy to report that she is healthy and well.

Obviously this painstaking and conscientious care comes at a high price tag, along with immeasurable hours of care and research. Each year, the hospital sees 76,000 children just like Aoife, handling approximately a quarter of a million annual admissions. That works out at 333 operations per day and over 100 children admitted daily for critical care.

Almost a quarter of the population in England is under 20 years old, BUT only 5% of the money spent on health research in the UK is focused on children and young people. This is a huge mismatch and shows the urgent need to do more.

While my 21.2km around London seems like such small fry in comparison to 333 operations per day - I can thankfully use this run to support GOSH’s New Children’s Cancer Centre, which will transform the care they can provide:

- A 20% increase in capacity, providing life-changing and life-saving care more quickly for more children than they are able to admit currently.

- Digitally advanced inpatient wards tailored to children with cancer, creating a ‘home from home’ environment.

- Increased capacity for research studies, developing kinder treatments with fewer long-term side effects.

- New imaging technology to enhance diagnostic capabilities.

- A new hospital school with double the capacity and an outdoor garden.

- A sustainable environment with green spaces and a roof garden.

Thank you for reading. If you are able to make a donation however small to help other families like mine receive the happy news that their youngest and bravest can continue living happy healthy lives as all kids should - that would mean such a great deal to me.

Thank you, from the Blacklays to you!

Sweatily,

EBP