Suicide remains the leading cause of death for people under the age of 35 in the UK and the biggest cause of death for men aged 50 or lower. Samaritans has the aim of reducing deaths by suicide. It is available 24/7, 365 days a year and offers a free, confidential service to anyone suffering emotional distress.

My husband Peter has been a volunteer for the Samaritans for the last 6 years.The Inner South West London branch is completely self funded, entirely run by volunteers and had over 24000 contacts last year.

Please do not feel any obligation, but any support you provide is hugely appreciated. All donations go directly to Inner South West London Samaritans.

My contribution is to raise money for them by running the London Marathon 2026. I have never run in my life, before this challenge. May 2025, I started training, my first challenge was to run 1 Km in 7 minutes. I thought, I can't do it, this is not for me.

Since then, I have been running three to four days a week. I completed my first 1/2 marathon, January 18th at Dorney Lake in 2h 31mins. Instead of being elated it dawned on me that on the day I will have to do it twice!

However I am going to do this to my best ability because I strongly believe in the Samaritans and the important work all the volunteers do.

SAMARITANS HELPLINE: 116123