Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

St John's Parish Church, Swalecliffe with Chestfield, has an amazing Children's Minister, ably assisted by a great team of volunteers, who have helped many people and families in need, over the years.

Through hosting weekly coffee breaks, running after school clubs and youth groups, a brilliant playgroup, monthly 'Messy Church' get togethers, indoor markets and three times a week Fair Share donations for locals, the community benefits greatly from these events.

All of these events are run through donations, whether from the collection plate on a Sunday morning, monthly payments from generous parishioners and the almost legendary summer fete, but everything costs more now and any extra money will go a long way to continuing St John's excellent local outreach.

As such (and no I wasn't 'Voluntold' to do this) I am taking part in the Great North Run on Sunday 13th September 2026 - 13.1 miles from Newcastle to South Shields.

My motivation to complete this challenge, is to raise money for this great local cause, so that St John's can continue to help the local community, in particular, one of the events that the money will go towards is a Christmas Lunch for local families, later in the year.

I have completed a number of GNRs in the past, but my last one was in 2014 and I was 3 stone lighter then and the right side of 50, so this year is going to be a real challenge for me to get the training in and complete the run.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Anything that you can spare will be greatly appreciated and will, I can promise you, be put to great use within our parish.

Thanks in advance and wish me luck if you see me pounding the prom!